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ALL  PURCHASERS  OF  OUR  BOOKS, 
Gardening  for  Profit, 

Practical  Floriculture, 

Gardening  for  Pleasure, 
Henderson's  Hand  Book  of  Plants, 

OR 

Garden  and  Farm  Topics, 

ARE  ENTITLED  TO  RECEIVE  OUR  MANUAL  OF 

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Eng ^"by-Geo  E  Perme. 


EXPLANATORY  NOTE. 


FOR  the  past  twenty-five  years  the  senior  member  of  our 
firm,  Mr.  PETER  HENDERSON,  has,  by  his  writings,  been 
prominently  before  the  horticultural  community  both  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe,  and  as  one  of  the  results  of  this 
prominence,  we  are  constantly  receiving  inquiries  from  friends 
and  readers  of  his  books  for  his  photograph.  In  deference  to 
these  oft-repeated  requests,  we  have  taken  the  liberty  to 
place  his  portrait  in  front  of  the  present  volume,  which,  from 
the  diversity  of  subjects  of  which  it  treats,  is  likely  to  have 
a  wider  circulation  than  any  of  his  previous  works. 

PETER  HENDERSON  &  CO., 

Publishers. 


GARDEN 


AND 


FARM   TOPICS 


: 

>     or  THE 


'TJNH  ERSITY 

ilEOB,^- 

PETER  HENDERSON, 


AUTHOR   OF 


'•'Gardening  for  Profit,"  " Practical  Floriculture,"  "Gardening  for 
Pleasure, "  and  '  'Hand-Book  of  Plants" 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  PETER  HENDERSON  &  Co., 

35    &   37  CORTLANDT    STREET. 

1884. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the.  year  1884,  by 

PETER  HENDERSON  &^Co., 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  o/^ongress,  Washington,  D.  C, 


PRINTED  BY  E 


.   8.  DODGE,   95  CHAMBERS  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB. 

Popular  Bulbs  and  their  Culture,     ------  9 

The  Hyacinth,  (ffyacinthus,) 9 

The  Tulip,  (Tulipa,} 13 

The  Lily,  (Lilium,) 18 

The  Lily  of  the  Valley,  (Convallaria,)      -  23 

The  Narcissus,  (Narcissus,) 25 

The  Gladiolus,  (Gladiolus,) 27 

The  Tuberose,  (Polianthes  tuberosa,)  -----  32 

The  Calla,  Egyptian  Lily,  Lily  of  the  Nile,  (Richarctia,)  -  37 

The  Amaryllis,  (Amaryllis,} 39 

The  Crocus,  (Crocus,) 4* 

The  Iris,  (Iris,)                                                                          -  42 

The  Cyclamen,  (Cyclamen,}      -        -        -        -        -        -  43 

The  Ranunculus,  (Ranunculus),            -        -        -        -        -  45 

The  Wind  Flower,  (Anemone,) 46 

The  Crown  Imperial,  Fritillary,  (Fritfflatui.)       -         -         -  47 

The  Snow-drop,  (Galanthus,)  47 

The  Tropseolum,  (Nasturtium,)           -        -        -         -         -  48 
The  Arum,  (Arum,)         --.-...go 

The  Ixia,  (Ixia,) 51 

The  Guernsey  Lily,  (Nerine,)           -         -         -         -         -  51 

The  Sparaxis,  (Sparaxis,)  -         -         -         -         -         -52 

The  Babiana,  (Babiana,)           -         -         -        -         -         -  53 

The  Amazon  Lily,  (Eucharis,)    ------  53 

The  Oxalis,  (Oxalis,) 54 

Squills,  Scillas,  (Scilla,) 56 

Window  Gardening,  Basket  Plants,  and  Care  of  Plants  in  Rooms,  57 

Propagation  of  Plants  by  Cuttings,  Layers,  Division,  and  Seed,  67 


6  -    CONTENTS. 

PAGR. 

Rose  Growing  in  Winter, -  87 

Green-house  Structures  and  Modes  of  Heating,  -         -         -  -     99 

Formation  and  Renovation  of  Lawns,      -         -                  -  117 

Onoin  Growing  for  Market,         -         -         -         -         -         -  -123 

How  to  Grow  Cabbage  and  Cauliflower,  (Early  and  Late,)  -       137 

Growing  and  Preserving  of  Celery  for  Winter,    -  159 

Strawberry  Culture, 169 

Root  Crops  for  Farm  Stock,       -         -         -         -         -         -  -  i?7 

Culture  of  Alfalfa  or  Lucerne,  (Medicago  sativa,*)    -  187 

Manures  and  their  Modes  of  Application,  -  193 

Market  Gardening  around  New  York,     -  -       201 

The  Use  of  the  Feet  in  Sowing  and  Planting,     -  -  211 

Popular  Errors  and  Scientific  Dogmas,     -       -  -       219 

Humbugs  in  Horticulture,  -  227 

Draining,        __--------  241 


INTRODUCTION. 


THE  demand  for  special  information  in  a  condensed  form,  on 
most  of  the  subjects  embraced  in  this  work,  by  hundreds  of  our 
patrons  each  season,  is  the  chief  reason  for  its  publication.  For 
example,  an  inexperienced  grower  of  Cabbages,  Celery,  or  Onions, 
wishes  for  information  about  methods  of  getting  the  best  crops; 
another  is  about  to  form  a  Strawberry  bed,  a  lawn,  or  construct  a 
green-house,  and  he  asks  the  benefit  of  my  veteran  experience. 
No  reply  by  letter  on  such  subjects  can  be  very  satisfactory,  and 
hence  the  necessity  of  brief  printed  instructions,  which,  I  trust, 
have  been  as  clearly  given  as  the  limited  space  would  admit. 

Such,  however,  as  require  a  more  elaborate  treatise  on  the 
general  subject  I  beg  to  refer,  if  full  information  is  wanted  for 
Market  Gardening,  to  my  book,  " GARDENING  FOR  PROFIT;"  if 
for  Commercial  Floriculture,  to  "  PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE;" 
if  for  reference  to  Nomenclature  and  History  and  Description  of 
Plants,  to  the  "llAND-BooK  OF  PLANTS  ;"  and  if  for  General 
Gardening  for  Amateurs,  to  "GARDENING  FOR  PLEASURE." 


PETER  HENDERSON. 


JERSEY  CITY  HEIGHTS,  N.  J., 
Jan.  i,  1884. 


v-  '?> 

'UNIV1ESITY 


GARDEN 


AND 


FARM   TOPICS. 


POPULAR  BULBS  ANI>  TMBIR.  CUI/TURK. 


THE   HYACINTH,    (Hyacinthus.) 

THE  Hyacinth  is  placed  first  in  the  list  of  bulbs,  as  it 
certainly  deserves  to  be.  Its  easy  culture,  both  in-doors 
and  out ;  its  immense  variety  of  double  and  single  flowers, 
embracing  nearly  every  shade  of  color  ;  and  its  delicious 
fragrance,  all  combine  to  make  it  pre-eminent  above  all 
other  bulbs,  if  not  above  all  other  families  of  plants,  the 
Rose  excepted.  It  was  first  introduced  into  England  in 
1596.  Gerarde,  in  his  "  Herbal,"  published  near  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  describes  four  kinds,  the  single  and 
the  double  blue,  the  purple,  and  the  violet ;  and  John 
Parkinson,  writing  in  1629,  describes  eight  kinds,  among 
which,  by  this  time,  white  and  red  colors  had  appeared. 

During  the  two  and  a  half  centuries  that  have  passed 
since  Parkinson  wrote,  there  has  been  a  steady  improve- 
ment in  the  size,  form,  and  color  of  the  flowers  of  this  plant. 
From  the  eight  varieties  of  1629,  described  by  John 
Parkinson,  more  than  four  thousand  varieties  have  been 
produced  and  catalogued,  from  which  number  upward  of 


10  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

two  hundred  varieties  are  subjects  of  extensive  commerce. 
The  Hyacinth  is  a  universal  favorite  in  the  most  extended 
application  of  the  word.  The  number  of  its  varieties  is 
now  fully  equal  to  that  of  any  other  florist's  flower.  They 
are  largely  grown  for  forcing  into  flower  in  the  dull, 
cheerless  months  of  winter  and  early  spring,  when  their 
delicately-colored  flowers  and  rich  fragrance  lend  a  charm 
to  be  found  in  nothing  else. 

FORCING. 

For  forcing,  the  bulbs  should  be  potted  about  the  mid- 
dle of  September  in  five  or  six  inch  pots  in  rich,  light 
earth,  and  placed  in  a  cold  frame  or  under  a  wall, 
where  they  can  be  covered  with  wooden  shutters,  or  some 
similar  contrivance,  to  keep  off  heavy  rains.  In  either 
case  they  should  be  covered  a  foot  thick  with  hay  or 
leaves  ;  and  being  once  well  watered  after  potting,  they 
may  be  left  for  a  month  to  form  their  roots,  when  the 
most  forward  should  be  brought  out,  and  after  re-potting 
into  larger  pots,  according  to  the  apparent  strength  of 
the  bulbs,  should  be  placed  in  a  temperature  of  about 
50°,  Some  care  is  necessary  in  the  application  and  in- 
crease of  heat,  or  the  flowers  will  be  abortive.  It  should 
not  exceed  50°  for  the  first  three  weeks,  but  afterward 
may  be  increased  gradually  to  60°  or  65°;  and  if  the  pots 
are  plunged  into  bottom  heat  the  same  careful  increase 
should  be  observed,  or  the  points  of  the  roots  will  infal- 
libly be  killed.  One-third  the  depth  of  the  pot  is  fully 
sufficient  at  first,  and  if  the  heat  is  brisk  they  should  not 
be  plunged  more  than  half  way  at  any  time.  When  the 
flower  stems  have  risen  to  nearly  their  full  height,  and 
the  lower  flowers  of  the  spike  are  beginning  to  expand, 
the  piants  should  be  removed  to  a  lower  temperature, 


THE    HYACINTH.  II 

usually  afforded  by  the  green-house  ;  and  when  the  flowers 
are  fully  expanded,  the  plants  can  be  taken  to  the  sitting- 
room,  or  wherever  their  presence  is  desired,  observing  to 
protect  them  from  sudden  changes  or  cold  draughts  of 
air,  and  it  will  help  them  if  the  water  given  to  them  should 
be  moderately  warm,  say  from  80°  to  100°. 

GROWING  IN  GLASSES. 

Hyacinths  in  glasses  are  an  elegant  and  appropriate 
ornament  to  the  parlor,  and  for  this  purpose  occasion 
little  trouble.  The  bulbs  should  be  procured  and  placed 
in  the  glasses  as  early  in  the  season  as  possible,  keeping 
them  in  the  dark  until  their  roots  are  well  started,  after 
which  the  lightest  position  that  can  be  afforded  is  the 
best.  The  water  in  which  they  grow  should  be  changed 
twice  or  thrice  a  week,  and  in  severe  weather  the  plants 
must  be  removed  from  the  window,  so  as  to  be  secure 
from  frost. 

OUT-DOOR  CULTURE. 

For  decorating  the  flower  garden,  the  bulbs  should  be 
planted  in  October  or  the  early  part  of  November,  at  six 
or  seven  inches  apart  each  way,  in  light,  rich  soil,  at  a 
depth  of  four  inches  from  the  crown  of  the  bulb  to  the 
surface  of  the  earth,  and  covered  over,  as  soon  as  the 
ground  freezes,  with  three  or  four  inches  of  leaves  or 
rough  manure.  It  may  be  necessary  to  place  sticks  to 
them  when  in  bloom,  to  prevent  them  from  being  broken 
by  the  wind  ;  and  this  is  all  the  attention  they  require  till 
the  foliage  is  withered,  and  the  season  has  arrived  for 
taking  them  up,  when,  instead  of  the  usual  practice  of 
drying  them  at  once  in  the  sun,  we  would  advise  the 
Dutch  method  to  be  adopted,  namely,  to  place  them 


12  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

side  by  side  on  a  sunny  spot  of  ground,  and  cover  them 
with  about  an  inch  of  loose  earth,  to  thoroughly  ripen  by 
the  subdued  heat  imparted  to  the  earth  which  surrounds 
them.  Left  in  this  position  for  a  fortnight,  they  will 
become  dry  and  firm,  and  an  hour  or  two  of  sunshine 
will  finish  them  properly  for  storing.  So  treated,  they 
will  be  but  little  inferior  to  imported  bulbs. 

The  multiplication  and  growth  of  Hyacinths  for  sale 
is  principally  carried  on  out  of  doors  in  the  vicinity  of 
Haarlem,  in  Holland.  The  sandy  soil,  and  moisture  of 
both  soil  and  climate  in  that  country,  are  peculiarly  favor- 
able to  the  growth  of  the  Hyacinth.  Hundreds  of  acres 
are  there  devoted  to  the  culture  of  these  and  kindred 
plants,  and  the  Haarlem  gardens  are  a  gay  sight  from  the 
early  season  of  the  year  till  far  on  in  the  summer.  The 
process  of  multiplication  is  carried  on  by  sowing  the 
seeds  or  by  taking  offsets  from  the  parent  bulb.  By 
seeds  new  varieties  only  are  obtained;  it  is  by  offsets  that 
the  already  known  and  valued  kinds  are  increased.  The 
bulbs  are  cut  crosswise,  and  sprinkled  with  sand  to  ab- 
sorb any  superfluous  moisture  that  may  exude  from  the 
incisions.  After  a  time  they  are  planted  in  the  earth, 
when  numerous  small  bulbs  are  formed  on  the  edges  of 
these  incisions.  At  the  expiration  of  one  season  they  are 
again  lifted  from  the  ground,  and  the  numerous  small 
bulbs,  still  only  partially  developed,  are  separated  from 
the  parent  root  and  planted  out  again  and  again,  year 
after  year,  for  three  or  four  years,  before  they  become 
flowering  bulbs  of  fine  market  quality. 

WHITE  ROMAN  HYACINTH. 

The  white  Roman  Hyacinth  is  largely  used  for  forcing 
for  winter  flowers  by  the  florists  of  New  York  and  all 


THE   TULIP.  13 

large  cities.  In  New  York  alone  upward  of  five  hundred 
thousand  bulbs  are  used  during  the  winter,  and  the 
number  is  rapidly  increasing  each  year.  The  flower 
spikes  average  four  cents  each  at  wholesale.  By  a  suc- 
cession of  plantings  in  boxes  six  inches  deep,  beginning 
in  September,  they  are  had  in  flower  from  November  till 
May,  and  even  later.  The  method  pursued  is  similar  to 
that  for  the  Lily  of  the  Valley.  (See  Lily  of  the  Valley, 
(Convallaria,)  where  the  method  is  described.) 


THE  TULIP,  (Tulipa.) 

TULIPS  are  divided  into  several  classes,  and  of  these 
we  shall  speak  in  the  order  of  their  flowering. .  The 
single  and  double  varieties  of  the  Due  van  Thol,  of  which 
the  type  is  Tulipa  suaveolens,  (from  the  Latin  suavis, 
sweet,)  are  the  earliest  and  most  suitable  for  pot  culture 
or  forcing.  If,  in  autumn,  they  are  planted  singly  in 
four-inch  pots  of  light,  rich  soil,  they  will  flower  extremely 
well  in  an  ordinary  room,  and  contrast  finely  with  Hya- 
cinths in  glasses.  The  culture  is  the  same  as  for  Hya- 
cinths. They  will  flower  in  water  like  the  Hyacinth,  but 
with  less  certainjy  and  less  luxuriance  ;  hence  they  are 
better  grown  in  pots  of  soil.  The  Due  van  Thol  was 
introduced  into  English  gardens  from  the  South  of 
Europe  in  1603. 

The  Single  Early  Tulip,  (Tulipa  Gesneriana^}  the 
parent  of  our  ordinary  garden  varieties,  is  a  native  of 
Asia  Minor,  the  Caucasus,  Calabria,  and  Central  Italy. 
Conrad  Gesner,  a  Swiss  naturalist,  in  whose  honor  it 
was  named,  first  made  it  known  by  a  description  and 
drawing  in  April,  1559.  Of  this  class  of  Early  Single 
Tulips  there  is  almost  an  endless  variety.  They  have 


14  GARDEN   AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

received,  for  more  than  two  hundred  years,  all  the  care 
and  attention  that  could  possibly  be  bestowed  on  a  plant, 
not  only  by  the  Dutch  florists,  but  by  nearly  every 
skilled  gardener  throughout  the  Old  World. 

Notwithstanding  the  "  mania  "  has  safely  passed  over, 
one  of  the  Haarlem  florists  this  season  (1883)  offered 
two  thousand  varieties.  To  select  from  a  list  so  large 
with  a  view  of  pleasing,  or  of  securing  the  most  desirable, 
would  be  to  play  a  game  of  chance.  Nearly  every  color 
and  shade,  except  black,  is  represented,  either  alone  or 
mixed,  striped  or  shaded ;  in  fact,  every  possible  com- 
bination of  color  may  be  obtained.  Double  Tulips  are 
almost  as  common  as  the  single,  many  of  them  very 
showy  and  desirable.  But,  like  all  others  who  have  made 
a  specialty  of  the  Tulip,  we  could  never  admire  the 
double  as  much  as  the  single  varieties.  Late  flowering 
or  Show  Tulips  have  been  grown  from  seed  by  millions, 
the  result  of  which  has  been  the  acquisition  of  many 
superb  varieties. 

There  is  a  singularity  in  Tulips  which  belongs  to  no 
other  flower.  The  seedlings  generally,  when  they  first 
bloom,  produce  flowers  without  any  stripes  or  markings, 
but  with  a  yellow  base,  the  upright  portion  of  the  petals 
being  self-colored,  brown,  red,  purple,  scarlet,  or  rose. 
In  this  state,  when  they  have  been  grown  for  years  with- 
out variation,  they  are  called  Breeders  or  Mother  Tulips. 
These  are  planted  every  year  until  they  break  into 
stripes,  when,  if  the  markings  are  fine,  or  different  from 
any  known,  they  are  named.  Each  person  who  has 
"broken  "  one  claims  and  has  a  perfect  right  to  give  it  a 
name ;  but  much  confusion  naturally  exists,  because  of 
the  fact  that  different  names  have  been  given  to  those 
that  have  broken  almost  exactly  alike.  In  a  bed  of  a 
thousand  seedlings,  it  is  not  probable  that  any  two  will 


THE    TULIP.  15 

be  very  nearly  alike  in  their  markings,  and  none  are  ever 
identically  the  same.     This  uncertainty  adds  greatly  to 
the  charm  of  Tulip  cultivation.     The  hope  of  something 
new  in  the  markings  and  penciling  is  a  sufficient  stimu- 
lus for  the  enthusiast  to  persevere  in  his  labor  until  he 
has  found  one  worthy  of  a  name.      A  singular  feature  in 
the  Tulip  is,  that  after  it  breaks  it  ever  remains  the  same. 
Show    Tulips    are    divided    into    three    classes  :    i. 
Byblcemens,  such  as  have  a  white  ground,  variegated  with 
purple,  the  edges  well  feathered,  the  leaflets  erect,  and 
the  whole  forming  a  perfect  cup.     2.  Bizarres,  having  a 
yellow  ground,  variegated  with  scarlet,  purple,  rose,  or 
violet.     3.   Roses,  with   white  ground,   variegated   with 
rose-color,  scarlet,  or  crimson.     The  properties  of  a  good 
Tulip  as   a  florist's   flower,   according  to  the   London 
Horticultural   Society's  rules,  are,  "  i.  The  cup  should 
form,  when  quite  expanded,  from  half  to  a  third  of  a 
round  ball.     To  do  this,  the  petals  must  be  six  in  number, 
broad  at  the  ends,  smooth  at  the  edges,  and  the  divisions 
between  the  petals  must  scarcely  show  any  indenture. 

2.  The  three  inner  petals  should  set  closely  to  the  three 
outer  ones,  and  the  whole  should  be  broad  enough  to 
allow  of  the  fullest  expansion  without  quartering,  as  it  is 
called,  or  exhibiting  any  vacancy  between  the   petals. 

3.  The  petals  should   be  thick,  smooth,  and  stiff,  and 
keep  their  form  well.     4.  The  ground  should  be  clear 
and  distinct,  whether  white  or  yellow.     The  least  stain, 
even  at  the  lower  end  of  the  petal,  renders  a  Tulip  of 
less  value.     5.   Whatever   be  the  disposition  of  colors 
or  marks  upon  a  Tulip,  all   the   six   petals  should  be 
marked  alike,  and  be,  therefore,  perfectly  uniform.     6. 
The    feathered    flowers    should    have   an    even,   close 
feathering  all  round  ;  and  whether  narrow  or  wide,  light 
or  heavy,  should  reach  far  enough  round  the  petals  to 


l6  OARDfcN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

form,  when  expanded,  an  unbroken  edging.     7.  If  the 
flower  have  any  marking  besides  the  feathering  at  the 
edge,  it  should  be  a  bold  mark  down  the  center,  but  not 
reaching  the   bottom  of  the  cup.     The  mark   must  be 
similar  in  all  the  six  petals.     8.  Flowers  not  feathered, 
and  with  the  flame   only,  must  have  no  marks   on  the 
edges   of  the  flowers.     None  of  the  colors  must  break 
through  to  the  edge.     The  color  may  be  disposed  in  any 
form,  so  that  it  be  perfectly  uniform  in  all  the  petals,  and 
does  not  go  too  near  the  bottom.     9.  The  color,  whatever 
it  may  be,  must  be  dense  and  decided.     Whether  it  be 
delicate  and  light,  or  bright,  or  dark,  it  must  be  distinct 
in  its  outline,  and  not  shaded,  or  flushed,  or  broken.    10. 
The  height  should  be  eighteen  to  thirty-six  inches ;  the 
former  is  right  for  the  outside  row  in  a  bed,  and  the 
latter  is  right  for  the  highest  row.     n.  The  purity  of  the 
white  and  the  brightness  of  the  yellow  should  be  perma. 
nent ;  that  is  to  say,  should  stand  until  the  petals  actually 
fall."     Parrot  Tulips  are  ignored  by  those  florists  who 
claim  the  right  to  say  what  is  and  what  is  not  beautiful. 
Not  being  bound  to  observe  the  "  laws  "  that  regulate 
the  form,  shape,  and  "perfect  markings,"  we   prize   this 
class  very  highly,  on  account  of  their  singularly  pictur- 
esque appearance.     The  flowers  are  very  large,  and  the 
colors   exceedingly  brilliant.     They   are  unequaled  for 
groups  in  mixed  borders,  or  conspicuous  places  in  front  of 
shrubs.     The  varieties  of  this  class  are  limited,  but  they 
are,  nevertheless,  particularly  beautiful. 

SOIL  AND  CULTURE. 

The  best  soil  for  the  culture  of  the  Tulip  is  a  rich, 
rather  light,  well-drained  loam.  A  bed  of  sufficient  size 
for  planting  the  bulbs  should  be  dug  at  least  twelve 


THE   TULIP.  17 

inches  deep.  The  bulbs  should  then  be  planted  six 
inches  apart  each  way ;  pressed  deep  enough  to  keep 
them  in  their  places,  and  covered  with  mould  to  the 
depth  of  three  inches  on  the  sides  of  the  bed,  and 
five  inches  in  the  center.  This  precaution  is  necessary, 
that  water  may  not  stand  on  the  bed  during  the  winter. 
When  the  bed  is  planted  and  covered,  it  may  be  left  to 
the  weather  until  the  Tulips  come  up,  or  about  the  first 
of  March.  A  slight  protection  of  litter  is  then  required, 
as  the  frost  has  a  tendency  to  check  the  bloom.  When 
the  flowers  appear,  if  they  are  protected  from  the  sun  by 
a  light  canvas,  the  period  of  bloom  may  be  kept  up  for 
three  or  four  weeks.  The  colors  are  generally  better  if 
not  shaded  at  all,  but  in  that  case  the  bloom  would  be 
soon  over.  Sometimes  a  single  day's  hot  sun  will 
completely  spoil  them. 

When  the  flowers  begin  to  fade,  they  should  be  cut 
away  and  removed  from  the  bed.  As  soon  as  the  stems 
of  the  Tulip  turn  yellow,  and  the  leaves  begin  to  dry 
they  may  be  taken  up  and  put  in  a  cool,  dry  place.  When 
dry,  thoroughly  clean  off  the  old  skin  and  dirt,  and  put 
in  paper  bags,  ready  for  planting  out  again  in  October. 
The  Tulip  is  also  now  extensively  forced  for  cut  flowers 
during  the  winter  and  spring  months.  The  method  of 
culture  is  identical  with  that  of  the  Roman  Hyacinth 
and  Paper  Narcissus,  which  see. 


1 8  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

THE    LILY,  (Lilium.) 
OUT-DOOR  CULTURE. 

THIS  genus,  the  type  of  an  extensive  order,  numbers 
upward  of  sixty  species,  and  is  eminently  distinguished 
for  its  surpassing  loveliness,  and  its  rare  combination  of 
grandeur  and  chaste  beauty.  A  remarkable  feature  in 
this  family  of  plants  is,  that  it  has  no  poor  relations.  In 
a  general  collection  of  the  species,  all  that  can  be 
imagined  desirable  and  perfect  in  floral  forms  will  be 
realized.  A  great  inducement  to  the  cultivation  of 
this  genus  is  their  ease  of  culture,  and  their  almost 
perfect  hardiness,  thriving  with  all  the  vigor  of  indig- 
enous forms  when  planted  in  the  flower  border.  All  of 
them  delight  in  light,  rich  soil,  such  as  is  afforded  by  a 
mixture  of  loam  and  well-rotted  manure,  and  one  uni- 
form treatment  is  applicable  under  all  circumstances  to 
the  whole  of  the  species  ;  all  may  be  grown  together  in 
the  border,  and  remain  undisturbed  a  number  of  years, 
frequent  removals  being  injurious,  by  destroying  the 
roots.  All  the  species  thrive  best  when  planted  in  partial 
shade,  the  shrubbery  border,  or  in  large  beds  in  an  open 
grove.  They  are  propagated  by  offsets  or  by  scales. 

When  the  old  bulbs  have  several  small  ones  formed 
around  them,  take  them  up  in  October,  divide  them  into 
single  bulbs,  and  replant  the  large  flowering  bulbs  im- 
mediately in  fresh,  rich  earth,  where  they  are  to  flower. 
Plant  the  small  bulbs  in  a  bed  of  the  same  kind  of  soil  by 
themselves  ;  let  them  remain  until  sufficiently  large  and 
strong  for  flowering,  which  should  require  but  two  years; 
then  take  them  up,  select  the  larger  bulbs,  and  plant 
them  where  they  are  to  remain,  taking  care  to  enrich  the 
earth  with  well  decomposed  manure,  the  small  ones  to 


THE    LILY. 


be  replanted  as  before.  L.  candidum,  "Easter  Lily," 
should  be  taken  up  and  replanted  in  August  or  first  part 
of  September,  as  the  bulbs  make  a  growth  in  autumn, 
upon  which  in  a  great  measure  depends  their  flowering 
the  coming  season.  In  selecting  the  situation  for  the 
Lily-bed,  care  should  be  taken  to  have  the  dryest  spot 

possible,  where  water  is 
not  liable  to  stand  in  the 
winter.  A  good  mulch- 
ing of  leaves,  coarse 
manure,  or  evergreen 
boughs  will  prove  highly 
beneficial. 

The  species  are  pretty 
generally  distributed 
throughout  the  temper- 
ate regions  of  the  north- 
ern hemisphere  ;  a  few 
only  are  found  in  the 
mountains  of  sub-tropical 
Asia.  California  has  fur- 
nished several  that  are 
among  the  more  difficult 
to  cultivate  here,  because 
of  the  difference  in  the 
seasons  of  growth.  Japan 
has  furnished  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  really  excellent  species,  among 
which  are  L.  auratum,  or  Golden  Banded;  L.  speciosum 
and  its  varieties  ;  L.  Kramerii,  L.  Leichtlinii,  L.  tigrinum 
flora  plena,  L.  Thunbergianum  in  variety,  L.  longiflorum, 
L.  candidum,  the  oldest  known  species,  comes  from  the 
Levant.  Asia  furnishes  L.  Chalcedonicum ;  Siberia  the 
beautiful  little  L.  tenuifolium,  which  is  there  grown  as  an 


LILIUM  AURATUM. 


20  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

article  of  food.  The  United  States  contributes  L.  super  bum, 
L.  Canadense,  L.  Philadelphicum,  L.  Catesbm,  L.  Caro- 
linianum,  and  L.  Columbianum,  together  with  L.  Wash- 
ingtonianum,  L.  Humboldtii,  L.  parvum,  L.  Calif ornicum, 
L.  pardalinum,  L.  Roezlii,  L.  Parryi,  and  L.  Walkerii, 
from  California.  It  may  be  added  here  that  the  California 
Lilies  often  remain  in  the  ground  a  whole  year  before 
growing. 

FORCING. 

All  the  varieties  succeed  well  grown  in  pots ;  but 
two,  L.  candidum  and  L.  longiflorum,  bear  what  is 
termed  forcing,  or  are  made  to  bloom  out  of  their  natural 
season.  The  L.  speciosum  class  and  L.  auratum  do  not  force 
well.  L.  candidum,  or  the  white  panicled  Easter  Lily, 
is  the  species  so  extensively  forced  for  flowers  for  Easter. 
The  method  is  to  plant  the  bulbs  in  six-inch  pots,  deep 
enough  to  merely  cover,  the  bulb,  any  time  from  Sep- 
tember ist  to  December  ist,  plunging  the  pots  of  those 
potted  early  to  the  rims  out  of  doors  in  a  sheltered, 
warm  spot,  and  covering  up  with  leaves  as  cold  weather 
approaches,  so  that  they  shall  not  get  frozen  at  any  time. 
Those  that  are  potted  later,  say  from  the  middle  of 
November,  should  be  plunged  in  the  same  way  either  in 
the  soil  under  the  benches  in  a  cold  green-house  or  in  a 
cold  frame.  The  object  is  in  all  cases  to  get  them  to 
fill  the  pot  with  roots  in  a  low  temperature.  When  the 
pots  are  well  filled  with  roots,  they  may  be  brought  into 
a  higher  temperature,  say  55°  at  night  and  10°  or  15° 
higher  in  the  daytime.  If  the  pots  are  well  filled  with 
roots  they  will  come  into  flower  from  eight  to  ten  weeks 
after  being  placed  in  the  above  temperature.  When  the 
flower  stems  begin  to  ascend,  the  plants  may  be  liberally 
supplied  with  liquid  manure  (made  from  one  bushel  of 


THE  LILY. 


Y, 


22  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

cow  manure  to  fifty  gallons  of  water)  once  a  week  or  so, 
taking  care,  however,  never  to  water  unless  the  plant 
shows  indications  of  being  dry. 

The  treatment  given  above  for  L.  candidum  will  also 
answer  for  L.  longiflorum,  the  white  Trumpet  Lily,  except 
that  the  latter  should  first  be  put  in  four-inch  pots,  and 
remain  until  well  filled  with  roots,  or  until  the  plant  is 
three  to  four  inches  high  ;  then  shift  into  a  six-inch, 
placing  the  ball  on  the  bottom,  so  that  all,  or  nearly  all, 
the  fresh  mould  is  at  the  top.  When  the  second  pot  is 
well  filled  with  roots,  shift  as  before  into  a  seven -inch  pot 
pot,  where  they  can  remain  until  they  come  into  flower. 
Soon  after  flowering  this  variety  will  show  a  disposition 
to  rest,  and  if  allowed  but  a  short  period,  and  repotted 
into  an  eight-inch  pot  without  disturbing  the  roots,  and 
kept  in  a  cool  house,  they  will  again  come  into  flower  in 
September  and  October.  Again,  after  a  short  rest,  they 
will,  without  a  change,  make  a  new  growth  and  flower  in 
the  following  spring,  by  which  time  the  bulbs  will  have 
become  so  exhausted  as  to  need  planting  in  the  border 
for  at  least  two  years.  A  new  variety  of  L.  longiflorum^ 
known  as  L.  Harrisii,  has  larger  flowers  and  is  more 
abundant  in  flowering.  The  treatment  is  the  same  as 
for  the  older  sort.  These  Lilies  may  also  be  forced  by 
placing  the  bulbs  at  once  in  the  pots  in  which  they  are 
intended  to  flower.  Large  numbers  of  them  are  forced 
for  Easter. 


LILY    OF    THE    VALLEY. 


23 


LILY  OF   THE   VALLEY,  (Convailaria.) 

THE  Lily  of  the  Valley,  Convailaria  majalis,  is  a  plant 
so  well  known,  and  such  a  universal  favorite,  that  little 
need  be  said  by  way  of  description,  unless  we  add  that  of 
Gerarde  in  1596,  which  is  as  follows  :  "  The  Lilly  of  the 
Vally  hath  many  leaves  like  the  smallest  leaves  of  Water 
Plantaine,  among  which  riseth  vp  a  naked  stalke,  halfe  a 
foot  high,  garnished  with  many  white  floures,  like  bels, 

with  blunt  and  turned 
edges,  of  a  strong 
savour,  yet  pleasant 
enoughf,  which  being 
past,  there  come 
small,  red  berries, 
much  like  the  berries 
of  asparagus,  wherein 
the  seed  iscontained." 
A  modern  writer  in 
I!  the  "Treasury  of  Bot- 
I  any  "  says:  "  Without 
poetical  or  fanciful 
conventionalities,  the 
Lily  of  the  Valley  is 
as  perfect  an  emblem 
of  purity,  modesty, 
and  humility  as  the  floral  world  can  afford.  It  may 
seem  idle  to  observe  that  a  flower  of  this  description 
cannot  be  that  referred  to  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount ;  but  as  that  opinion  is  frequently  broached  in 
popular  works,  it  may  simply  be  observed  that  it  never 
grows  in  the  open  field,  and  that  there  is  nothing  in  its 
array  to  which  the  term  *  glory '  is  applicable.  Not  a 
litlte  unprofitable  commentary  might  have  been  spared  if 


24  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

the  same  general  meaning  had  been  attached  to  the  term 
*  Lilies  of  the  Field  *  which  has,  by  common  consent,  been 
ascribed  to  the  parallel  phrase  '  Fowls  of  the  Air,'  while 
the  passage  itself  would  have  gained  in  force  and  dignity 
by  being  kept  clear  from  botanical  disquisitions." 

The  flowers  of  the  Lily  of  the  Valley  are  used  during 
the  winter  months  in  immense  quantities,  New  York  city 
alone  probably  using  a  million,  the  average  price  of  which 
is  about  five  cents  each,  so  that  for  this  flower  alone 
$50,000  are  annually  paid  by  the  bouquet  makers  to  the 
florist,  the  consumer  paying,  no  doubt,  one-third  more. 
The  Lily  of  the  Valley  is  nearly  all  imported  from 
Germany  and  France,  usually  in  single  crowns  or 
"  pips." 

FORCING. 

The  method  of  culture  is  to  place  these  very  thickly 
together  in  shallow  boxes,  as  soon  as  received  in  Novem- 
ber, placing  them  in  a  cold  frame,  or  in  the  open  ground, 
covering  them  up  so  that  they  do  not  get  frozen.  It  is  a 
popular  belief  that  they  are  benefited  by  being  frozen  ; 
but  this  is  a  mistake.  They  must  be  kept  at  the  low  tem- 
perature to  be  found  usually  in  a  cold  frame  or  when 
covered  up  in  the  open  ground,  which  is  usually  from  35° 
to  40°  ;  but  they  gain  no  advantage  by  being  even 
slightly  frozen,  and  may  be  seriously  hurt  by  severe 
freezing.  They  should  remain  in  this  condition  at  least 
four  weeks  before  they  are  brought  in  to  force, 
which  should  be  done  gradually,  beginning  at  50°  and 
running  up  to  65°  or  70°.  If  taken  in  every  few  weeks, 
a  succession  may  be  kept  up  from  January  until  May. 
In  fact,  the  flowers  are  now  to  be  had  all  the  year  round, 
as  some  growers  find  it  sufficientlv  profitable  to  keep  the 
roots  in  refrigerators,  and,  thus  retarded,  they  are  forced 


THE    NARCISSUS.  25 

to  bloom  at  will  at  any  time  during  the  summer  or  fall 
months.  This  same  system  might  be  used  with  many 
other  bulbs,  such  as  the  Tuberose  or  Hyacinth,  but  it  is 
only  in  very  valuable  flowers,  such  as  the  Lily  of  the 
Valley,  that  the  expense  would  be  justified.  The  plant 
does  well  in  the  garden,  and  may  be  put  under  the  shade 
of  trees  ;  but  wherever  placed,  the  roots  should  not  be 
disturbed  for  several  years,  if  at  all,  as  many  clumps  will 
not  otherwise  bloom.  It  is  useless  to  save  the  Lily 
of  the  Valley  roots  after  having  been  forced.  It  is  better 
to  throw  them  away,  as  it  takes  years  for  them  to  recu- 
perate. 


THE  NARCISSUS,  (Narcissus). 

IN  this  genus  we  have  a  long  list  of  established  favor- 
ites, remarkable  alike  for  the  elegance,  fragrance,  and 
earliness  of  their  flowers.  In  one  respect  the  species  are 
all  alike  :  they  delight  in  rich  soil  made  porous  with 
plenty  of  sand  and  well-rotted  manure.  All  of  them  are 
also  quite  hardy,  and  from  the  early  period  at  which 
their  flowers  are  produced,  they  are  of  the  utmost  con- 
sequence to  the  flower  gardener. 

FORCING. 

Several  of  the  species  are  found  to  bear  forcing  well, 
and  for  this  purpose  have  become  a  staple  article  in  the 
Dutch  florists'  trade,  and  several  varieties  have  been 
originated  by  them,  suited,  by  the  selection  of  their 
parentage,  to  bear  this  trying  course  of  treatment.  The 
following  are  commonly  grown  for  forcing  :  JBazelman 
Major,  Soleil  cTOr,  Grande  Primo,  and  Grande  Mon- 
arque.  These,  with  the  double  Roman  and  others,  should 
be  potted  in  September  in  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of 


26  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

fresh  loam,  rotted  manure,  and  leaf  mould,  with  half  of 
either  quantity  of  sand.  In  potting,  the  neck  of  the 
bulb  should  be  kept  above  the  surface  of  the  soil,  that 
the  roots  may  have  so  much  more  space  in  the  pot  ; 
and  when  the  potting  is  completed  they  should  be  placed 
together,  either  in  a  cold  frame  or  in  some  convenient 
place,  so  that  they  may  be  covered  a  foot  thick  with 
fresh  leaves.  These  exclude  light  and  prevent  frost 
from  getting  to  the  roots,  both  essential  to  a  speedy 
excitement  of  root-growth. 

In  about  five  or  six  weeks  it  will  be  found  that  many 
of  them  have  filled  the  pots  with  roots,  and  these  may  be 
taken  into  a  temperature  of  55°  to  bring  on  their  flowers  ; 
and  if  re-potted  when  the  first  two  leaves  have  grown  a 
few  inches,  the  flowers  will  be  considerably  larger  ;  but 
before  any  plant  is  taken  from  the  bed  of  leaves,  be  sure 
that  it  has  made  a  good  stock  of  healthy  roots,  or  it  will 
be  spoiled  by  the  forcing  process.  Narcissi  do  not  re- 
quire a  powerful  heat  to  bring  out  their  flowers,  (55°  will 
do  it  better  than  any  other,)  and  the  supply  of  water 
should  be  sufficient,  but  by  no  means  excessive. 

The  Paper  Narcissus,  JV.  papyraceus,  is  now,  perhaps, 
more  extensively  forced  than  either  of  the  above  men- 
tioned. It  is  grown  in  immense  quantities  by  the  florists 
of  New  York  and  other  large  cities,  and,  next  to  the  Roman 
Hyacinth,  is  the  bulb  most  extensively  grown  for  this 
purpose.  When  grown  on  a  large  scale  it  is  planted  in 
boxes  of  soil  about  five  inches  deep,  at  a  distance  of 
three  to  four  inches  apart,  and  treated  as  recommended 
above.  This,  like  nearly  all  other  bulbs,  is  of  no  value 
after  being  forced,  and  the  roots  may  be  thrown  away. 

When  grown  in  the  open  borders  the  bulbs  should  b& 
planted  in  October,  in  newly  dug  and  well-manured 
ground,  at  a  depth  of  three  inches,  reckoning  from  the 


THE    GLADIOLUS.  27 

top  of  the  bulb  to  the  surface  of  the  soil.  This  will  not 
be  too  much  for  any,  except,  perhaps,  the  Jonquils, 
which,  from  having  smaller  bulbs,  may  be  placed  an 
inch  nearer  the  top.  At  this  depth,  and  with  plenty  of 
manure  about  them,  water  will  not  be  required,  but  they 
will  grow  strong  and  flower  finely.  When  planted  in 
beds,  and  it  becomes  necessary  to  remove  them  to  make 
room  for  other  plants,  it  should  be  done  as  soon 
as  their  beauty  is  past.  As  the  bulbs  are  by  no  means 
mature  at  this  time,  they  should  be  "  laid  in  "  in  some 
slightly  shaded  place  until  the  foliage  is  quite  withered, 
when  they  may  be  taken  up,  dried,  and  stored  away 
until  wanted  for  the  next  planting  season. 

Most  of  the  species  are  from  the  south  of  Europe,  and 
are  propagated  by  offsets.  They  were  among  the  earliest 
cultivated  garden  flowers. 


THE  GLADIOLUS,  (Gladiolus.) 

THIS  extensive  and  well-known  genus  consists  of  up- 
ward of  sixty  species.  With  but  few  exceptions,  which 
will  be  noted  in  their  descriptions,  they  are  natives  of 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  They  are  remarkable  for  ease 
of  culture,  grace  of  habit,  and  for  the  beauty  and  intense 
coloring  of  the  flowers,  which  varies  from  the  most 
brilliant  scarlet  to  pure  white,  from  clear  rose  to  pure 
yellow  and  bright  purple.  The  habits  of  the  species  are 
as  varied  as  their  colors  ;  some  delicate  and  light,  others 
strong  and  robust,  with  constitutions  adapted  to  any 
climate  excepting  the  most  frigid.  From  these  species 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  hybrids  have  been  pro- 
duced. In  no  branch  of  floriculture  has  the  skill,  the 
zeal,  and  the  perseverance  of  the  hybridizer  been  so 


28  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

liberally  rewarded.  A  class  with  almost  unlimited  num- 
bers of  varieties  has  been  produced,  that,  for  the  size  of 
flower,  beauty  of  form,  size  and  strength  of  plant, 
together  with  the  enormous  length  of  flower  spike,  are 
entirely  unknown  to  the  species.  So  popular  have  these 
hybrids  become  that  the  species  are  only  to  be  found  in 
botanical  collections. 

HYBRID  GLADIOLUS. 

The  hybridization  of  any  popular  tribe,  particularly 
when  it  is  attended  with  so  little  labor,  in  proportion 
to  the  results  produced,  as  in  this  class,  is  speedily 
carried  to  an  extent  which  renders  characteristic  distinc- 
tions indefinable  ;  and  perhaps  the  introduction  of  the 
numberless  names  which  necessarily  arise  out  of  such 
a  circumstance  is  to  be  regretted,  as  occasioning  difficulty 
and  labor  beyond  what  most  cultivators  are  disposed  to 
submit  to.  For  the  purposes  of  sale,  however,  and  also 
to  enable  the  producer  to  recommend  very  particular 
sorts  to  dealers  and  amateurs,  it  is  essential  that  every 
seedling  or  variety  that  is  at  all  deserving  of  being  per- 
petuated should  have  a  distinctive  name.  The  many 
hundred  named  garden  varieties  of  Gladioli  are  descend- 
ants of  G.  Gandavensis,  but  how  and  where  this  variety 
was  produced  has  been  for  a  long  time  an  open  question ; 
why,  we  could  never  fully  understand,  for  we  have  the 
word  of  one  of  the  most  prominent  horticulturists  in  the 
world,  Louis  Van  Houtte,  whose  word  was  authority 
whenever  given,  that  it  was  produced  at  Ghent,  and  was 
a  cross  between  G.  psittacinus  and  G.  cardinalis.  This 
we  should  consider  a  full  settlement  of  the  question  ;  not 
so,  however  ;  for  the  late  Hon.  and  Rev.  William  Her- 
bert, an  acknowledged  authority  on  bulbs,  says  Mr.  Van 


THE    GLADIOLUS.  29 

Houtte  is  in  error;  for  after  repeated  attempts  to  hybrid- 
ize the  two,  he,  Mr.  Herbert,  could  not  succeed;  con- 
sequently it  could  not  be  done,  and  what  Mr.  Van  Houtte 
said  had  been  done  was  a  mistake.  All  the  English 
writers  agree  with  Mr.  Herbert,  and  say  the  origin  of 
G.  Gandavensis  is  obscure.  There  is  no  question,  how- 
ever, as  to  the  fact,  that  to  G.  Gandavensis  we  are  indebted 
for  all  our  fine  garden  varieties,  as  it  crosses  freely  with 
many  of  the  species,  and  each  cross  seems  to  possess 
merits  superior  to  either  parent.  It  is  a  common  mistake 
to  call  our  many  varieties  hybrids,  when  in  reality  they 
are  all,  or  nearly  all,  cross-breeds  ;  and  this  is  one  of  the 
most  interesting  features  in  Gladioli  culture,  that  every 
cross  between  well-known  varieties  tends  in  almost  every 
case  to  improve,  not  only  the  beauty  of  the  flower,  but 
the  vigor  of  the  plant. 

RAISING  FROM  SEED. 

We  wish  now  to  remove,  as  far  as  possible,  the  preva- 
lent erroneous  idea,  that  it  is  a  difficult  task  to  raise  new 
and  choice  varieties  from  seed.  The  only  secret,  the 
only  mystery  is,  that  one  can  with  so  little  trouble  and 
expense  produce  flowers  that  will  give  such  intense  satis- 
faction and  pleasure.  'It  is  no  more  trouble  to  raise 
Gladioli  from  seed  than  it  is  to  raise  the  most  common 
vegetable.  With  the  simplest  garden  culture,  there  is  an 
almost  absolute  certainty  of  success.  Prepare  your  bed 
in  spring  as  for  any  hardy  annual,  sow  your  seed,  and 
cover  to  the  depth  of  one  inch.  Hoe  as  often  as  needed 
for  other  crops  ;  keep  them  well  weeded  ;  take  up  the 
bulbs  after  a  frost,  or  before,  if  they  show  signs  of  ripen- 
ing ;  store  them  in  a  dry  cellar,  free  from  frost ;  plant 
them  out  again  the  next  spring,  and  the  ensuing  summer 


30  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

very  many  of  them  will  flower.  If  the  precaution  is 
taken  to  sow  the  seed  in  a  hot-bed,  close  the  same  upon 
the  approach  of  a  heavy  rain,  which  they  dislike  exceed- 
ingly. Very  nearly  all  the  bulbs  will  be  large  enough  to 
give  their  most  perfect  flowers  the  second  year.  The 
fact  that  the  best  rarely  flower  first,  will  tend  to  create 
in  the  amateur  a  warm  and  lively  interest. 

A  pertinent  question  is,  how  to  obtain  the  best  seed. 
Commence  by  making  a  careful  selection  of  the  best 
varieties  in  cultivation,  keeping  in  view  those  of  the  best 
form,  largest  size,  and  of  the  most  intense  and  positive 
colors  ;  wherever  they  are  marked  or  variegated,  have 
the  markings  bold  and  distinct.  Plant  all  in  a  bed  so 
that  they  will  not  be  more  than  one  foot  apart  each  way. 
Without  further  care  you  will  get  some  good  seed  ;  but 
a  better  quality  and  much  larger  quantity  will  be  obtained 
by  crossing  them  in  all  sorts  of  ways,  which  is  the  most 
effectually  done  on  a  dry  day,  when  there  is  but  little 
air  stirring.  It  is  not  necessary  to  cross  fertilize  for  good 
varieties,  though  it  is  a  more  certain  way  ;  yet  very  many 
of  our  best  seedlings  were  accidentals  ;  artificial  fertiliza- 
tion being  necessary  from  the  fact  of  their  rarely  fertiliz- 
ing themselves. 

SOIL. 

The  Gladiolus  dislikes  a  stiff,  clayey  soil,  but  will 
thrive  well  in  almost  any  other,  its  preference  being  for 
one  of  a  moist,  sandy  nature,  or  light  loam.  It  does  best 
on  what  is  termed  sod  ground,  with  but  little  manure, 
and  that  well  rotted.  Successive  plantings  in  the  same 
ground  should  be  avoided  Change  the  locality  of  the 
bed  every  year,  so  as  not  to  return  to  the  same  spot  for 
at  least  three  years.  It  is  much  the  best  plan  to  make 
your  ground  very  rich  this  year,  and  put  on  some  light 


THE    GLADIOLUS.  3! 

crop  ;  then  it  will  be  in  perfect  order  for  your  Gladiolus 
the  next. 

INCREASE  BY  BULBLETS. 

Increase  of  desirable  sorts  is  effected  by  the  small 
bulbs  or  bulblets  that  form  at  the  base  of  the  new  bulb, 
which  are  produced  in  greater  or  less  quantities.  Some 
varieties  will  have  on  an  average  a  hundred  in  a  year  ; 
others  will  produce  scarcely  any.  The  bulblets  should 
be  planted  in  spring,  and  given  the  same  treatment  as 
recommended  for  the  seed.  If  planted  in  rich,  light  soil, 
and  attention  given  to  careful  weeding  and  mulching 
with  leaf  mould,  saw-dust,  or  any  such  non-conducting 
material,  so  as  to  prevent  the  sun's  rays  from  drying  and 
heating  up  the  soil  too  much,  nearly  all  of  the  young 
bulblets  will  flower  the  second  year.  They  should  be 
sown  in  drills  about  six  inches  wide,  or  the  width  of  a 
common  hoe,  and  the  drills  about  one  foot  apart.  The 
bulblets  or  seedlings  should  be  sown  thick  enough  to 
touch  each  other.  In  this  way  they  will  do  better  than  if 
sown  too  thin,  as  then  the  soil  between  the  plants  would 
get  heated  and  dried  up. 

TIME  TO  PLANT. 

During  the  winter,  Gladiolus  bulbs,  whether  large  or 
small,  should  be  kept  in  a  dry,  cool  cellar.  As  the  bulb  is 
nearly  hardy,  plantings  may  be  set  out  as  soon  as  the 
ground  is  fit  to  work  in  spring  ;  and  even  should  the 
ground  be  frozen  after,  they  will  sustain  no  injury. 

Bulbs  set  out  during  April  will  be  usually  at  their  best 
flowering  in  August,  but  "succession  plantings  "  may  be 
made  every  ten  days  until  the  middle  of  July,  which  will 
give  a  succession  of  bloom  the  entire  season.  It  is  a 


32  GARDEN  AND   FARM    TOPICS. 

common  practice,  with  the  New  York  florists,  to  reserve 
Gladiolus  bulbs  until  August,  which  are  then  planted 
in  boxes  six  or  seven  inches  deep,  in  rich  soil.  The 
boxes  are  kept  out-doors  until  frost,  when  they  are 
placed  in  a  cool  green-house,  where  they  flower  in 
November,  at  a  time  when  everything  is  done  outside. 


THE  TUBEROSE,  (Polianthes  tuberosa.) 

THE  original  Single  species  is  a  native  of  the  East 
Indies,  and  was  introduced  early  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. At  a  much  more  recent  date  the  common  or  tall- 
growing/?^^  Tuberose  was  raised  from  seed  by  Mons. 
Le  Cour,  of  Leyden,  Holland,  who  for  many  years  would 
not  part  with  a  root,  destroying  all  surplus,  so  that  he 
could  say  that  he  had  a  monopoly  of  the  only  Double 
Tuberose  in  the  world. 

The  recently  introduced  variety,  known  as  the  Pearl, 
is  a  sport,  having  originated  on  the  grounds  of  Mr.  John 
Henderson,  of  Flushing,  L.  I.,  in  1865.  Its  strong  habit 
of  growth,  and  dark,  heavy  foliage  attracted  Mr.  Hender- 
son's attention,  causing  him  to  give  it  every  chance  for 
perfect  development.  The  result  was  a  variety  far  supe- 
rior to  the  parent,  both  in  size  and  number  of  flowers, 
with  a  marked  superiority  in  habit  of  growth,  the  flower- 
stalks  not  being  so  tall  by  nearly  a  foot  as  the  original,  a 
feature  making  it  invaluable  for  green-house  culture.  I 
purchased  the  entire  stock  from  Mr.  Henderson,  paying 
him  about  five  hundred  dollars  for  a  barrel  of  the  roots, 
and  sold  it  for  the  first  time  in  1867. 

The  Tuberose  delights  in  a  strong,  rich  soil,  deep  and 
rnoist.  Manure,  heat,  and  water  are  essential  to  its  per- 
fect development.  For  cultivation  in  the  open  border, 


THE    TUBEROSE.  33 

the  bulbs  should  be  planted  about  the  first  of  June,  cov- 
ering the  tuber  about  one  inch  with  light,  fine  soil.  No 
other  care  is  needed  than  that  usually  given  garden 
plants.  The  only  care  required  is  in  the  selection  of  the 
bulbs,  which,  if  kept  moist  and  cool  during  winter,  are 
liable  to  rot  away  in  the  center,  rendering  them  worthless 
for  flowering.  Perfect  tubers  will  always  be  green  at  the 
top,  or  at  least  sufficiently  so  to  show  signs  of  life  ;  and 
in  choosing,  all  others  should  be  rejected. 

FORCING. 

Forcing  the  Tuberose,  so  as  to  have  the  flowers  from 
January  to  March,  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  operation, 
and  is  now  but  little  attempted  here.  The  plant  being 
of  tropical  origin,  to  have  it  at  all  times  in  a  growing 
state  requires  a  high  temperature — not  less  than  an  aver- 
age of  80°;  consequently,  few  ordinarily-heated  green- 
houses or  private  sitting-rooms  are  at  a  temperature  high 
enough  to  insure  the  continued  and  uninterrupted  growth 
necessary  to  the  production  of  flowers  in  the  dark  winter 
months.  It  is,  however,  comparatively  easily  forced  so 
as  to  produce  flowers  during  April,  May,  and  June,  and 
again,  by  retarding  the  bulbs,  during  November  and  De- 
cember. By  the  first  method,  the  bulbs  are,  about  the 
first  of  January,  placed  closely  together  in  boxes  three 
inches  deep,  having  two  inches  or  so  of  damp  moss  in 
the  bottom.  These  boxes  are  placed  in  some  warm  spot, 
v.-hcre  the  temperature  will  average  75°.  If  for  green- 
house culture,  the  best  place  is  on  the  hot-water  pipes. 
In  about  four  or  five  weeks  the  Tuberoses  will  have 
rooted  all  through  the  moss,  and  they  should  then  be 
potted  in  four  or  five  inch  pots,  or  planted  in  a  bench  of 
soil  four  or  five  inches  deep,  and  kept  in  a  temperature 


34  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

at  no  time  less  than  75°,  and  flowers  will  be  had  in 
abundance  in  April.  For  succession  crops,  place  the  dry 
bulbs  in  moss,  at  intervals  of  three  or  four  weeks.  The 
last  crops  will  usually  be  the  best,  as  by  May  and  June 
the  temperature  will  have  increased,  and  less  artificial 
heat  will  be  required. 

If  flowers  are  wanted  during  November  and  December, 
the  retarding  process  alluded  to  is  resorted  to.  This  is 
done  by  selecting  such  bulbs  as  are  wanted,  (care  being 
taken  to  use  only  such  as  are  sound  and  firm,)  and  placing 
them  in  some  cool,  dry  place  until  the  middle  of  August, 
when  the  first  crop  may  be  planted,  either  in  pots  or  in  a 
bench  of  the  green-house,  as  described  above  for  the 
spring  crop.  This  planting  will  produce  a  crop  by  No- 
vember. For  the  succession  crop  for  December,  planting 
must  be  delayed  until  the  middle  of  September,  this 
being  as  late  as  the  bulbs  can  be  kept  sound  in  the  usual 
way ;  but  they  may  be  retarded  in  refrigerators,  and  in 
that  way  may  be  had  all  through  the  winter  months,  pro- 
vided a  high  enough  temperature,  with  plenty  of  light, 
can  be  given.  The  same  high  temperature  is  indispensa- 
ble as  in  the  spring  crop,  namely,  an  average  of  75°. 
The  variety  best  for  forcing  is  the  "Pearl,"  which  grows 
only  about  half  the  height,  and  has  flowers  nearly  twice 
the  diameter  of  the  old  sort ;  but  for  planting  in  the  open 
ground  in  the  ordinary  way,  when  the  flowers  are  only 
wanted  for  fall,  the  common  double  variety  is  the  best ; 
as,  being  less  full,  the  flowers  open  better  under  the 
often  unfavorably  dry  atmosphere  that  we  have  in  Oc- 
tober. 

Tuberoses  are  often  forwarded,  so  as  to  be  got  in 
flower  in  the  earlier  fall  months,  in  sections  of  the  country 
where  the  season  is  too  short.  This  is  done  exactly 
in  the  way  recommended  for  the  spring  forcing,  by 


THE    TUBEROSE.  35 

starting  the  bulbs  in  damp  moss  ;  but  for  this  purpose 
the  dry  bulbs  should  not  be  placed  in  the  moss  until  the 
middle  of  May.  By  the  middle  of  June,  when  the  weather 
has  become  warm,  and  they  are  set  out,  they  will  start  to 
grow  at  once,  and  will  in  this  way  flower  from  three  to 
four  weeks  earlier  than  if  the  dry  bulb  had  been  put  in 
the  open  ground,  cold  as  it  is  in  most  of  the  Northern 
States  in  May.  Of  course,  it  will  be  understood,  that 
when  the  dry  bulbs  are  placed  in  the  moss  to  start,  it 
must  be  in  a  green-house,  or  in  some  place  where  the 
thermometer  will  average  75°  or  80°,  or  they  will  not 
start  at  all,  or,  at  least,  very  feebly.  It  will  thus  be  seen, 
from  the  foregoing  remarks,  that  it  will  be  utterly  useless 
to  attempt  to  grow  Tuberoses  at  any  season  unless  in  a 
tropical  temperature,  which  at  no  time  should  be  less 
than  75°,  and  if  it  averages  80°,  all  the  better. 

TENDENCY  TO  SPORT. 

Many  growers  of  this  flower  have  been  sadly  disappoint- 
ed in  the  results,  their  flowers  coming  single  instead  of 
double,  and  they  naturally  ask  the  cause.  We  can  only  say, 
there  is  a  tendency  in  all  sports  and  hybrids  to  return  to 
the  original  or  type,  and  this  plant  is  no  exception  to  the 
rule.  The  conditions  of  growth  may  have  much  to  do 
with  it.  We  have  known  large  stocks  that  were  wholly 
double  one  year  to  come  nearly  all  single  the  next.  We 
cannot  satisfactorily  account  for  it,  and  only  know  that 
the  annoyance  is  common  in  every  place  where  they  are 
grown.  From  a  very  close  observation,  we  believe  much 
i.s  due  to  poor  cultivation,  and  the  best  remedy  is  to  be 
found  in  giving  them  a  very  rich  soil  and  good  cultiva- 
tion. Like  many  other  plants,  we  have  found  they  do 
best  when  given  a  rotation  of  soil. 


36  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


FIELD  CULTURE. 

The  field  culture  of  Tuberose  bulbs  is  now  a  large  and 
important  industry  in  this  country,  millions  being  grown, 
not  only  for  home  use,  but  for  exportation  to  Europe. 
Hitherto  they  were  grown  almost  exclusively  in  Italy,  but 
within  the  past  ten  years  European  dealers  in  the  bulb 
find  they  can  buy  a  better  article  at  a  cheaper  rate  from 
us.  We  ourselves  have  for  many  years  grown  nearly 
half  a  million  roots  annually.  Our  plan  of  late  years  has 
been,  after  thoroughly  plowing  and  harrowing,  to  mark 
out  furrows,  three  and  a  half  feet  apart,  with  the  plow 
(or,  what  is  better,  with  the  implement  known  as  a 
furrow  marker)  six  or  seven  inches  deep  and  ten  or 
twelve  inches  wide.  In  the  bottom  of  this  furrow  is 
spread  two  or  three  inches  of  well-rotted  stable  manure, 
or  bone  dust  thick  enough  to  cover  the  soil.  Two  or 
three  inches  of  soil  are  placed  on  the  top  of  this,  and  the 
Tuberose  sets  are  then  planted  in  this  prepared  furrow 
in  two  rows  nine  or  ten  inches  apart,  and  five  or  six 
inches  between  the  sets.  The  object  of  this  plan  is,  that 
we  get  the  benefit  of  the  manure  for  two  rows  instead  of 
one,  as  is  the  case  when  one  row  only  is  planted  in  the 
furrow,  in  the  usual  way.  It  is  a  little  more  labor  to  cul- 
tivate, but  the  saving  in  manure,  in  time  in  making 
furrows,  and  in  planting  by  the  double  row  plan,  we 
have  found  more  than  offsets  this. 

A  great  many  Tuberoses  are  now  grown  in  the  South- 
ern States  ;  but,  unless  they  are  lifted  and  dried  at  the 
proper  time,  there  is  danger  of  the  flower  bud  starting 
prematurely,  which  renders  the  bulb  worthless.  I  had 
20,000  sent  from  Florida  a  few  years  ago,  that  were  per- 
fectly worthless  from  this  cause.  They  were  left  in  the 


THE    CALLA.  37 

ground  until  November  ;  probably  two  months  too  long, 
if  the  sets  were  large,  and  in  consequence  all  had  started 
an  embryo  flower  bud  in  the  dry  bulb.  It  seems  to  me 
that  the  only  safe  way  to  grow  good  Tuberose  bulbs  in 
extreme  Southern  States  is  to  use  sets  no  larger  than 
peas,  if  they  are  to  be  left  in  the  ground  till  November. 
From  such  small  sets  there  would  be  no  danger  of  the 
flower  bud  forming  prematurely.  If  larger  sets  are  used, 
they  should  be  lifted  in  September.  When  Tuberose 
bulbs  are  raised  in  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  New  York, 
or  other  Northern  States,  the  largest  sets  that  can  be 
obtained  (provided  they  are  not  large  enough  to  go  to 
flower)  we  find  make  the  best  bulbs.  Such  sets  are 
usually  an  inch  long,  and  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter 
at  the  thickest  part. 

Great  care  is  necessary  in  harvesting  Tuberose  bulbs. 
They  should  never  be  placed  in  heaps  large  enough  to 
generate  heat.  In  Southern  latitudes  they  can  be  dried 
in  the  open  air  ;  but  North,  the  green-house  benches  or 
dry  air  sheds  are  a  necessity.  We  find  the  safest  way 
to  keep  them,  after  being  dried,  is  to  place  them  closely 
together,  tops  up,  in  single  layers,  in  a  dry,  warm  shed, 
or  in  some  place  under  the  benches  in  a  green-house, 
where  they  will  be  safe  from  water. 


CALLA,   EGYPTIAN     LILY,    LILY    OF 
THE    NILE,  (Richardia.) 

Calla,  the  now  popular  name  of  this  genus,  was  given 
to  it  by  Pliny,  and  by  this  name  it  is  still  known,  though 
the  white  species,  universally  cultivated,  is  now  known 
to  botanists  as  Richardia  ALthiopica.  It  is  a  native  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  was  introduced  into  England 


38  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

in  1731.  It  is  of  easy  culture  ;  the  only  particular  atten- 
tion it  requires  is  abundance  of  moisture  when  in  a  grow- 
ing state,  and  as  warm  a  room  as  can  conveniently  be 
given  it;  say  an  average  temperature  of  70°. 

The  Calla  is  largely  grown  for  winter  flowers,  and  is  of 
the  easiest  culture.  Although  it  will  grow  and  flower 
during  the  entire  season  without  resting  if  sufficiently  fed 
by  being  re-potted,  yet  it  is  more  profitable  to  dry  it  par- 
tially off,  say  from  June  ist  to  September  ist.  This  is  best 
done  by  placing  the  pots  on  their  sides,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  rains  from  wetting  the  soil,  and  covering  them  slightly 
with  hay  or  moss,  so  as  to  keep  the  sun  from  drying  the 
roots  too  much  ;  or,  if  a  position  of  partial  shade  can  be 
had,  there  will  be  no  need  of  covering  the  pots.  The 
roots  thus  rested  will  flower  more  abundantly  and  produce 
fewer  leaves,  and  thus  twice  the  number  of  flowers  may 
be  obtained  from  the  same  space. 

It  is  not  well  to  give  the  Calla  too  much  pot  room,  else 
too  much  foliage  is  produced.  We  have  found  the  best 
method  to  be  not  to  use  too  large  pots,  and  to  use  liquid 
manure  freely,  made  from  one  bushel  of  cow  dung 
to  twenty-five  or  thirty  gallons  of  water,  or  one  pound 
of  guano  to  ten  gallons  of  water.  When  an  excess  of 
leaves  occurs,  cut  them  off  freely,  withholding  water  some- 
what for  a  week  or  so  after  cutting  the  leaves  off.  By 
this  method  the  plants  can  be  grown  closely  together, 
and  a  larger  crop  of  flowers  obtained  from  the  same 
space. 

The  Calla  is  one  of  the  best  of  winter-flowering  plants 
for  room  culture,  needing  little  care  beyond  abundant 
water,  and  an  occasional  syringing  or  "washing  of  the 
leaves,  to  keep  them  free  from  dust  and  red  spider.  It 
is  also  a  good  plant  for  a  large  aquarium.  J?.  albo-maculata, 
a  species  with  beautifully  variegated  or  spotted  foliage, 


THE    AMARYLLIS.  39 

makes  a  showy  plant.  The  flowers  are  smaller  than  the 
Calla,  and  white,  with  purple  throat.  It  comes  into  flower 
in  June,  making  it  valuable  for  a  succession.  It  is  also 
desirable  in  a  collection  of  plants  with  variegated  foliage. 
Another  species,  R.  hastata,  is  somewhat  similar  to  R.  albo- 
maculata,  except  that  the  flowers  are  deep  yellow  with  a 
purple  throat.  There  is  still  another  kind  of  "  Calla," 
sometimes  called  the  "  Black  Calla,"  from  the  very  dark 
crimson  of  its  velvet-like  flowers.  It  is  really,  however, 
a  plant  of  another  genus,  known  as  Arum  Palestinum.  It 
is  quite  a  scarce  plant  as  yet,  but  will  be  a  great  acquisi- 
tion from  its  unique  and  novel  color.  Unlike  most 
species  of  the  genus  Arum,  the  flowers  of  this  are  of  a 
pleasing  fragrance.  (See  Arum'.)  The  species  are  all 
propagated  by  offsets,  which  should  be  taken  off  when 
the  plant  is  at  rest,  and  grown  on  in  small  pots  for  one 
season. 


THE  AMARYLLIS,  (Amaryllis.) 

THESE  are  bulbous  plants,  mostly  natives  of  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope  and  South  America,  but  which  have  been 
increased  in  number  tenfold  by  hybrids  and  varieties 
raised  in  England  and  on  the  Continent.  All  the  kinds 
are  eminently  ornamental,  and  they  are  all  easy  of  culture, 
the  great  secret  being  to  give  them  alternately  a  season 
of  excitement  and  a  season  of  repose.  To  do  this 
effectually,  the  plants  should  be  abundantly  supplied 
with  water  and  heat,  and  placed  near  the  glass  when 
they  are  coming  into  flower,  and  water  should  be 
withheld  from  them  by  degrees  when  they  are  done 
flowering,  till  they  have  entirely  ceased  growing,  when 
they  should  be  kept  quite  dry  and  in  a  state  of  rest. 
When  in  this  state  they  may  be  placed  in  any  obscure 


40  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

part  of  a  green-house  where  it  is  dry,  and  of  a  tempera- 
ture not  under  forty  or  fifty  degrees.  If  kept  in  such  a 
situation  during  winter,  some  kinds  may  be  turned  out 
into  a  warm  border  in  spring,  where  they  will  flower  ;  and 
if  the  season  be  fine,  they  will  renew  their  bulbs  in  time 
to  be  taken  up  before  the  approach  of  frost. 

The  chief  value  of  these  plants,  however,  is  to  produce 
flowers  in  the  winter  season,  which  they  readily  do  if 

they  are  kept  dry 
and  dormant  during 
the  latter  part  of  the 
summer  and  autumn. 
Indeed,  by  having  a 
large  stock  of  these 
bulbs,  a  regular  suc- 
cession of  flowers 
may  be  procured 
during  every  month 
in  the  year.  When 
the  dormant  bulbs 
are  intended  to  be 
thrown  into  flower, 
they  should  be  fresh 
potted  in  sandy  loam 
and  leaf  mould,  and 
(VittataType.)  put  in  a  hot-houseor 

hot-bed,  kept  rather  dry,  and  covered  up  with  leaves  until 
the  pot  is  well  filled  with  roots,  just  as  is  done  in  forcing 
Hyacinths  or  Lilies,  except,  in  the  case  of  Amaryllis,  the 
temperature  requires  to  be  kept  ten  degrees  higher,  the 
heat  beginning  at  fifty  degrees,  and  ascending  to  sixty  or 
seventy  degrees ;  and  when  the  leaves  appear,  the  plants 
should  be  abundantly  supplied  with  water.  Our  long 
and  warm  summers  enable  us  to  cultivate  many  of  these 


AMARYLLIS. 


THE   CROCUS.  41 

beautiful  bulbs  in  the  open  air,  merely  protecting  the 
roots  in  the  winter  in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  the 
Dahlia. 


THE  CROCUS,  (Crocus.) 

THE  Crocus  is  divided  into  two  classes  :  the  first,  those 
that  flower  in  early  spring,  too  well  known  to  need  de- 
scription ;  the  second,  the  autumnal  flowering,  or  naked 
Crocus,  so  called  because  the  flowers  are  produced  in  the 
absence  of  leaves,  which,  with  the  seeds,  are  thrown  up 
in  the  spring. 

The  spring  Crocus  is  of  the  easiest  culture,  and  we 
need  only  remark,  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  put  them  into 
poor  ground,  since  no  plants  in  our  gardens  delight  more 
in,  or  make  greater  returns  for,  rich  soil.  They  require 
a  dry  situation,  and  in  such  a  place  and  soil  they  flower 
profusely.  The  bulbs  or  corms  should  be  planted  at  least 
three  inches  deep  ;  for,  as  the  new  corm  forms  above  the 
old  one,  they  will  in  three  or  four  years  push  themselves 
out  of  the  ground  if  planted  too  near  the  surface.  As 
often  as  once  in  three  years  the  corms  should  be  taken 
up,  separated,  and  planted  out  as  quickly  as  possible; 
the  longer  they  are  left  out  of  ground  the  weaker  they 
become,  and  the  later  they  will  come  into  bloom. 

In  starting  a  new  bed,  the  corms  should  be  planted  as 
soon  as  they  can  be  obtained,  which  is  usually  about  the 
first  of  September.  If  left  until  November,  as  is  the 
too  common  practice,  very  few  will  flower  strongly  the 
coming  season,  and  none  satisfactorily.  When  left  in  the 
ground  they  commence  new  life  about  the  first  of  Sep- 
tember, and  before  winter  they  have  their  preparations 
for  spring  work  complete  ;  the  flower  buds  will  be  nearly 


42  GARDEN    AN-D    FARM    TOPICS. 

their  full  length  above  the  bulb,  ready  for  the  first  sunny 
days  in  March  to  break  forth  into  bloom. 

The  situation  for  the  Crocus  bed  should  be  a  warm 
one,  and  before  hard  frosts  it  may  be  mulched  two  or 
three  inches  with  leaves  or  coarse  litter,  which  is  to  be 
taken  off  as  soon  in  spring  as  the  season  will  warrant. 
The  mulching,  however,  may  be  omitted  where  it  is  not 
convenient  to  apply  it.  C.  sativus,  which  is  the  type  of 
the  autumnal  flowering  species,  should  be  planted  in 
midsummer,  and  it  will  come  into  flower  in  September. 
All  the  species  and  varieties  are  increased  by  offsets. 
Their  introduction  into  British  gardens  dates  back  as  far 
as  1600.  The  new  named  varieties  introduced  recently 
bear  very  large  flowers,  and  are,  in  all  respects,  very  great 
improvements  upon  the  older  kinds. 


THE  IRIS,  (Iris.) 

THERE  are  three  distinct  kinds  of  Iris,  besides  innu- 
merable species,  hybrids,  and  varieties.  These  are,  the 
fibrous-rooted  kinds,  which  grow  best  in  a  fine,  sandy 
loam,  and  which  increase  rapidly  every  year  by  suckers 
from  the  roots ;  the  tuberous-rooted  kinds,  which  are 
very  apt  to  be  destroyed  by  snails,  or  to  rot  from  too 
much  wet;  and  the  bulbous  kinds,  which  should  be  taken 
up  and  replanted  every  second  or  third  year,  as  the  new 
bulbs,  which  are  formed  every  season,  are  always 
directly  under  the  old  bulb ;  and  thus  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years  the  bulbs  descend  so  low  as  to  be  out 
of  the  reach  of  the  air,  and  consequently  incapable  of 
vegetation.  Thus  it  will  be  generally  found  that  persons 
in  the  habit  of  growing  Irises  are  always  complaining  of 
losing  their  plants,  this  being  the  cause.  The  bulbous 


THE    CYCLAMEN.  43 

and  tuberous-rooted  Irises  succeed  in  any  light  and  dry 
soil.  The  splendid  Chalcedonian  Iris  is  one  of  the  tu- 
berous-rooted kinds  ;  and  it  not  only  requires  a  dry  soil 
during  winter,  but  to  be  allowed  plenty  of  pure  air  during 
the  whole  period  of  its  growth,  or  it  will  be  very  apt  to 
damp  off. 

Among  the  species  of  late  introduction  is  /.  K&mpferii, 
from  Japan.  The  plants  are  perfectly  hardy,  and  are 
very  free-flowering.  The  flowers  are  double  and  single, 
the  colors  pure  white,  purple,  maroon,  blue,  and  many 
with  the  various  colors  marbled  with  white.  They  grow 
readily  in  almost  any  situation,  in  full  exposure  to  sun, 
or  in  partial  shade.  They  are  increased  by  division,  or 
may  be  grown  readily  from  seed,  which,  if  sown  in  the 
open  border,  will  make  plants  that  will  flower  the  second 
year.  These  are  really  grand  plants,  and  worthy  of  a 
place  in  all  gardens.  That  they  do  not  flower  until  near 
midsummer,  when  the  season  of  the  common  Iris  is  past, 
will  be  an  additional  recommendation  to  most  lovers  of 
plants.  Another  species,  /.  Robinsonii,  from  New  Zealand, 
is  dwarfer  than  the  preceding,  and  produces  beautiful 
orchid-like  flowers.  It  is  yet  very  rare. 


THE  CYCLAMEN,  (Cyclamen.) 

THIS  genus  contains  some  of  our  most  popular  and 
desirable  plants  for  fall,  winter,  and  early  spring  flower- 
ing. They  are  all  neat  and  dwarf  in  habit  ;  all  have 
foliage  of  pretty  form  and  beautiful  markings,  and  the 
flowers  in  every  case  are  beautiful,  some  exquisitely  so. 
C.  Persicum  stands  at  the  head  of  the  family,  and  is  the 
one  in  most  general  cultivation. 

The    Cyclamen   should  be  grown  from   seed,   which 


44 


GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


should  be  sown  as  soon  as  ripe  in  pans  or  shallow  boxes 
filled  with  a  compost  of  well-rotted  manure,  leaf  mould, 
and  coarse  sand  thoroughly  incorporated.  As  soon  as  the 
plants  have  made  two  leaves,  prick  out,  at  one  inch  apart, 
into  similar  pans  or  boxes  filled  with  the  same  compost, 
and  place  upon  the  shelf  in  the 
green-house,  near  the  glass,  and 
shade  from  direct  sunlight.  Care- 
fully water;  to  dry  them  or  drown 
them  is  equally  fatal.  As  soon  as 
the  plants  are  well  rooted,  shift  into 
a  three-inch  pot,  observing  the  same 
instructions  in  all  respects.  By  the 
first  of  September  they  will  require 
a  five-inch  pot.  With  proper  care 
and  attention,  they  will  be  in 
CYCLAMEN.  flower  from  November  through  the 

entire  winter  months.  They  require  a  more  even  tem- 
perature than  is  usually  given  to  green-house  plants,  not 
above  60°  nor  below  50°;  with  it  bulbs  two  inches  in 
diameter  can  be  grown  in  one  year. 

After  flowering  they  should  be  gradually  ripened  off, 
but  never  allowed  to  become  thoroughly  dry.  During 
summer  keep  them  in  a  frame,  shaded,  and  give  occa- 
sionally a  little  water.  They  should  be  repotted  again 
about  the  first  of  September,  without  breaking  the  ball, 
and  the  next  flowering  will  be  their  perfection  of  bloom. 
This  species  is  a  native  of  Persia.  All  the  species  are 
famous  for  their  acridity,  yet  in  Sicily  the  Cyclamen  is 
the  principal  food  of  the  wild  boars  ;  hence  the  common 
name  of  Sow-bread. 


THE    RANUNCULUS. 


THE  RANUNCULUS,  (Ranunculus.) 

THE  species  may  be  divided  into  two  kinds  •  border 
flowers  and  florists'  flowers.  The  latter  consist  of 
some  hundreds  of  varieties  obtained  from  the  species 
Ranunculus  Asiaticus,  a  native  of  the  Levant,  with  tuber- 
ous roots,  which  is  rather  too  tender  to  endure  the  winter 
in  the  Northern  States  in  the  open  air  without  some  kind 
of  protection.  The  wild  plant  grows  naturally  in  Persia, 
in  meadows  which  are  moist  during  winter  and  in  the 
growing  season,  but  dry  during  a  great  part  of  summer. 

The  usual  season  for  planting  the  Ranunculus  is  No- 
vember. The  roots  may  be  placed  about  six  inches  apart 
each  way,  covered  with  two  inches  of  soil,  and  protected 
by  straw,  mats,  or  rotten  tan,  during  severe  frosts,  or  they 
do  splendidly  when  grown  in  cold  frames.  The  plants  will 
come  into  flower  in  June,  and  when  the  leaves  wither  the 
roots  may  be  taken  up,  dried  in  the  shade,  and  preserved 
in  a  dry  place  until  they  are  wanted  for  replanting.  As 
the  plant  seeds  freely,  even  when  semi-double,  new  sorts 
without  end  may  be  raised  from  seed,  which  may  be  sown 
in  pots  or  flat  pans  as  soon  as  it  is  gathered,  and  placed 
in  a  cold  frame. 

The  tubers,  if  kept  dry,  will  retain  their  vitality  for  two 
or  three  years  ;  and  hence,  if  roots  which  should  be 
planted  in  November  are  kept  out  of  the  ground  till  the 
November  following,  and  then  planted  in  pots  and  pro- 
tected from  frost,  and  when  they  appear  above  ground 
put  into  green-house  heat,  they  will  flower  at  Christmas. 
If  not  planted  till  December,  they  will  flower  about  the 
end  of  January  ;  and  if  not  planted  till  January,  they 
will  flower  in  March.  In  this  way,  by  always  having  a 
stock  of  old  roots,  and  planting  some  every  month  in  the 
year,  Ranunculuses  may  be  had  in  flower  all  the  year 


4>N 

4S 


46  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

round.    The  common  mode  of  propagating  the  Ranuncu- 
lus is  by  separating  the  offsets  from  the  larger  roots. 

Several  of  the  species  are  weeds  with  us,  and  common 
in  moist  pastures,  having  been  introduced  from  Europe 
at  an  early  day.  They  have  become  extensively  natural- 
ized, so  much  so  as  to  be  a  nuisance  to  farmers  in  some 
places.  They  are  popularly  known  as  Buttercups,  ft. 
bulbosus,  a  double-flowering  species,  would  be  regarded  as 
an  acquisition  to  the  flower  garden  if  it  were  half  as  diffi- 
cult to  get  as  it  is  to  be  got  rid  of  when  once  established. 


THE  WIND  FLOWER,  (Anemone.) 

THE  species  are  showy  flowering  plants,  valued  for 
their  hardy  nature,  and  also  because  they  will  flower  at 
any  required  season,  according  to  the  time  the  roots  are 
kept  out  of  the  ground.  The  roots  of  the  Anemone  are 
solid,  flattened  masses,  closely  resembling  ginger.  They 
should  be  planted  in  the  garden  as  early  in  the  spring  as 
possible,  in  very  rich  soil,  and  in  partial  shade.  When 
the  tops  are  dead,  take  up  and  store  in  a  dry,  airy  place, 
where  they  will  keep  well  for  two  years  without  injuring 
their  vitality.  For  in-door  cultivation  they  can  be  planted 
at  any  time  in  very  rich  soil  in  pots  or  boxes,  or  cold 
frames,  such  as  are  used  for  Pansies. 

The  prevailing  colors  are  red,  white,  and  blue;  flowers 
double  or  semi-double.  One  of  the  earliest  spring  flowers 
is  A.  nemorosa,  the  white  Wind  Flower  of  our  woods.  A. 
puhatilla  and  its  varieties,  with  whitish,  violet,  and  purple 
flowers,  are  known  in  cottage  gardens  as  Pasque  Flawers. 
Anemone  fulgens,  the  scarlet  Wind  Flower,  is  the  most 
brilliant  and  beautiful  of  all  winter  and  spring  flowering 
Anemones. 


THE    SNOW    DROP.  47 

THE   CROWN   IMPERIAL,  FRITILLARY, 

(Fritillaria.) 

SHOWY  bulbs  for  the  border,  mostly  attaining  a  height 
of  from  two  to  three  feet,  though  F.  meleagris  and  its 
varieties  are  dwarf.  This  species,  and  one  or  two  others 
like  it,  have  had  much  attention  paid  them  by  florists 
in  Europe,  who  have  succeeded  in  obtaining  many  beau- 
tiful varieties  by  seed,  and  now  these  flowers  occupy  a 
prominent  place  in  their  catalogues. 

They  delight  in  very  rich  soil,  frequently  dug  and  well 
pulverized  previous  to  planting.  The  bulbs  may  be 
placed  in  the  ground  either  in  autumn  or  early  spring, 
covering  them  with  about  three  inches  of  earth. 

In  the  blooming  season,  should  the  weather  prove 
dry,  the  ground  must  be  frequently  well  soaked  with 
water,  that  the  growth  may  be  sufficiently  vigorous,  or 
the  flowers  of  the  following  season  will  be  deficient  in 
size.  When  the  stems  begin  to  decay,  the  bulbs  should 
be  taken  up,  but  not  dried  to  any  extent,  it  being  far 
preferable  to  preserve  them  till  the  following  planting 
season  in  sand  or  light  and  partially  dried  earth.  F. 
imperialis  is  the  well-known  Crown  Imperial,  a  native  of 
Persia,  of  which  there  are  several  varieties.  They  will  be 
greatly  benefited  by  mulching  with  leaves  to  the  depth 
of  six  inches,  just  before  the  ground  freezes  up.  They 
can  remain  a  number  of  years  without  being  taken  up. 


THE  SNOW-DROP,  (Galanthus.) 

G.  nivalis,  the  common  Snow-drop,  for  its  poetical 
associations  as  the  ever-welcome  harbinger  of  spring,  is 
universally  cultivated,  and  by  potting  and  very  gentle 
forcing  may  be  made  an  interesting  ornament  to  the 


48  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

green-house  in  mid-winter.  It  is  perfectly  hardy,  how- 
ever. Loudon  remarks  :  "  It  is  rather  singular,  and  also 
to  be  regretted,  that  no  variations  or  hybrids  have  been 
produced  from  this  early  and  pretty  little  flower."  By 
way  of  episode,  we  may  mention  that  there  are  but  two 
species  of  the  genus  and  one  variety,  but  it  is  probable 
that  a  cross  might  be  obtained  between  it  and  the  allied 
genus  Leucojum,  or,  indeed,  other  genera  of  the  same 
order,  the  great  difficulty  being,  however,  to  have  the 
different  species  in  flower  at  the  same  time.  The  earli- 
ness  of  the  Snow-drop  putting  it  out  of  the  question  in  a 
natural  manner,  it  would  be  necessary  to  retard  the  latter 
till  the  blooming  season  of  the  genus  to  be  selected. 
Natives  of  Great  Britain. 


NASTURTIUM,  (Tropaeolum.) 

AN  extensive  genus  of  hardy  annuals  and  green-house 
tuberous  and  herbaceous  perennials,  all  natives  of  tropical 
America.  The  tuberous-rooted  varieties  are  confined  to 
Peru.  The  well-known  annual  plants  called  the  Nas- 
turtium are  common  in  every  garden,  and  only  require 
sowing  with  the  other  hardy  annuals  in  spring.  There 
were  formerly  only  two  kinds  of  the  annual  Tropaeolums, 
T.  major  and  T.  minor,  but  since  1830  numerous  varieties 
have  been  raised.  One,  with  very  dark  flowers,  is  called 
T.  minor  atrosanguineum,  and  another,  with  dark  stripes, 
is  T.  minor  venustum.  The  young  shoots  of  these  plants 
are  succulent,  and  taste  like  the  common  land  Cress,  the 
botanical  name  of  which  is  Nasturtium,  and  hence  they 
have  received  their  popular  name. 

Besides  the  hardy  annual  kinds,  there  are  several 
tender  tuberous  species,  most  of  which  are  kept  in  the 


THE   NASTURTIUM.  49 

green-house.  The  best  known  of  these  is  Tropaolum 
tricolorum,  with  flowers  marked  red,  black,  and  yellow, 
which  has  tuberous  roots,  and  such  very  weak  and  slender 
stems,  that  it  is  found  necessary  always  to  train  them 
over  a  wire  frame,  as  they  are  quite  unable  to  support 
themselves.  In  Paxton's  "  Magazine  of  Botany "  it  is 
stated  that  the  tuber  of  the  root  should  not  be  buried, 
but  only  placed  on  the  surface  of  the  soil,  so  that  the 
fibrous  roots  may  penetrate  it.  This,  it  is  said,  will 
enlarge  the  size  of  the  tuber  in  "  a  truly  astonishing 
manner  ;"  and  though  the  plants  will  not  appear  healthy 
the  first  season,  they  will  afterward  become  extremely 
vigorous.  It  is  also  recommended  to  use  double  pots 
for  these  plants,  and  fill  up  the  interstices  with  river 
sand,  which  should  always  be  kept  moist.  Substantially 
the  same  plan  has  been  followed  in  this  country  for 
many  years,  and  found  to  succeed  well.  T.  brachyceras 
may  be  treated  in  the  same  manner,  and  it  would  prob- 
ably succeed  with  T.  tuberosum,  a  species  which  it  is 
very  difficult  to  throw  into  flower  under  ordinary  treat- 
ment, but  which  grows  best  in  the  open  ground,  in  rich 
soil,  and  with  plenty  of  air  and  light. 

T.  peregrinum,  the  Canary  Bird  Flower,  was  formerly 
considered  a  green-house  plant,  but  it  is  now  found 
much  better  to  treat  it  as  a  half-hardy  annual,  raising  the 
seeds  on  a  hot-bed,  and  planting  them  out  in  May  near 
some  trellis-work  or  other  support,  which  the  plant  will 
soon  cover  in  the  most  graceful  manner,  producing 
hundreds  of  its  elegant,  fringe-like,  pale-yellow  flowers. 
It  is  propagated  from  cuttings  and  by  seeds. 


$6  GARDEtf   AND   FAkM   TOPICS. 

ARUM,   (Arum.) 

THERE  are  several  interesting  species  contained  in  this 
genus,  which  may  be  accounted  pretty  additions  to  the 
collections  of  the  hot-house  and  green-house,  though 
most  of  the  flowers  possess  a  disagreeable  odor.  In 
contrast  with  the  other  species  is  A.  Palestinum,  that  has 
flowers  of  deep  crimson,  with  a  delicious  fragrance  not 
unlike  the  Violet.  In  shape  it  resembles  Calla  sEthi- 
opica;  in  fact,  when  it  was  introduced,  in  1876,  into  the 
United  States,  it  was  under  the  name  of  "  Black  Calla." 
They  are  easily  cultivated  in  sandy  loam,  and  should 
have  a  liberal  supply  of  water.  Numerous  offsets  are 
usually  produced,  by  which  the  species  are  extended.  A. 
dracunculus,  the  Dragon  Arum,  deserves  a  place  in  the 
flower  garden  for  its  large  and  very  remarkable  flowers. 
This  variety  requires  the  same  treatment  as  the  Gladiolus. 

The  roots  of  all  this  natural  order,  when  green,  contain 
a  milky  fluid,  which  is  exceedingly  acrimonious,  excit- 
ing a  painful  sensation  of  burning  heat  in  the  tongue  and 
mouth.  When  cut  in  slices  and  applied  to  the  skin,  it 
will  very  quickly  produce  a  blister.  This  same  active 
principle  is  not  confined  to  the  roots  of  the  various 
genera  and  species,  but  is  found  in  the  leaves  as  well.  A 
piece  of  the  Calla  leaf,  not  larger  than  a  pin's  head,  if 
taken  into  the  mouth,  will  produce  violent  and  painful 
burnings.  By  drying,  these  roots  lose  all  their  poison- 
ous properties,  and  some  of  the  species  yield  an  excellent 
quality  of  Arrow-root. 


THE   GUERNSEY   LILY.  5 1 

IXIA,  (Ixia.) 

A  GENUS  of  beautiful  Cape  bulbs,  with  narrow  leaves, 
and  slender,  simple,  or  slightly  branched  stems,  bearing 
spikes  of  large  showy  flowers,  various  in  color,  and  ex- 
ceedingly attractive  when  fully  expanded  by  sunshine. 
/.  viridiflora,  which  has  large  sea-green  flowers  with 
black  markings  at  the  base  of  the  segments,  is  a  very 
singular-looking,  as  well  as  very  beautiful  plant.  There 
are  many  species  and  some  varieties,  and  the  greater 
part  of  them  are  worthy  of  cultivation.  They  are  half 
hardy,  but  with  us  should  be  grown  in  pots  in  the  green- 
house. About  midwinter  they  will  begin  to  show  their 
handsome  flowers  freely.  When  done  flowering  they 
should  be  dried  off  till  September  or  October,  which  is 
the  proper  time  to  start  them  again.  They  grow  well  in 
a  light  loam  with  the  addition  of  leaf  mould  and  sand. 
They  are  propagated  by  offsets. 


GUERNSEY  LILY,  (Nerine.) 

SHOWY  bulbous  plants,  the  type  of  which  is  the  Guern- 
sey Lily,  and  which  are  natives  of  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  China,  and  Japan.  The  Guernsey  Lily  is  a  native 
of  Japan,  and  the  reason  why  it  has  obtained  its.  English 
name  is  said  to  be,  that  a  ship  laden  with  these  bulbs 
and  other  plants  from  China  was  wrecked  on  the  coast 
of  Guernsey;  and  the  bulbs  being  washed  on  shore,  took 
root  in  the  sandy  soil  of  the  beach,  and  flourished  there 
so  remarkably  as  to  be  supposed  to  be  natives  of  the 
island.  Whether  this  story  be  true  or  not,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  these  bulbs 
have  been  cultivated  in  Guernsey  with  the  greatest 
success,  growing  freely  in  the  open  air,  and  producing 


52  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

an  abundance  of  offsets  every  year,  from  which  the  market 
is  supplied. 

The  bulbs  are  usually  planted  in  September  and  Octo- 
ber, in  pots  of  very  sandy  loam,  and  placed  in  the  green- 
house or  in  a  window  where  they  will  have  plenty  of 
light.  They  will  flower  in  December  and  January,  and 
remain  in  flower  for  a  long  time.  After  flowering,  and 
when  the  leaves  begin  to  turn  yellow,  water  should  be 
gradually  withheld  till  the  bulbs  are  ripe.  During  the 
summer,  while  the  bulbs  are  dormant,  the  pots  may  be 
kept  in  the  green-house  or  placed  in  the  open  air,  the 
latter  being  the  better  way.  Shift  into  a  larger  sized  pot 
about  the  beginning  of  September,  or  earlier  if  the  bulbs 
show  signs  of  growing,  but  do  not  break  up  the  cluster 
of  bulbs,  or  disturb  the  roots  more  than  is  necessary  to 
break  away  a  portion  of  the  old  soil.  Water  moderately 
till  growth  has  freely  started.  The  true  Guernsey  Lily 
is  N.  sarniensis. 


SPARAXIS,  (Sparaxis.) 

THIS  genus  is  fast  rising  in  the  estimation  of  both  the 
florist  and  the  gardener.  Varieties,  very  pleasing  in 
color,  are  annually  raised  in  Europe.  It  is  a  dwarf 
bulbous  family  of  plants  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
producing  flowers  about  the  size  and  shape  of  those  of 
the  Crocus,  the  colors  of  which  are  now  of  infinite  variety; 
pure  white,  yellow,  orange,  red,  purple,  and  violet,  are  to 
be  found,  either  separate  or  blended  in  pleasing  varia- 
tions. They  succeed  best  planted  in  a  frame,  where  they 
can  have  a  slight  protection  during  winter.  They  suc- 
ceed well  also  grown  in  pots  in  a  cool  green-house.  The 
bulbs  should  be  potted  in  September,  and  kept  under  a 
bench  until  they  begin  to  grow,  when  they  should  be 


THE    AMAZON    LILY.  53 

given  light  and  water.  Three  or  four  bulbs  may  be  put 
into  a  five-inch  pot  with  good  effect.  They  increase 
rapidly  by  offsets. 


BABIANA,  (Babiana.) 

A  GENUS  of  Cape  plants,  with  solid  bulbs  or  corms, 
which  are  eaten  by  the  Hottentots,  and  which,  when 
roasted,  are  said  to  resemble  chestnuts.  All  the  species 
have  showy  flowers  of  various  colors,  blue  predominat- 
ing. Some  of  the  varieties  are  finely  variegated.  They 
succeed  in  very  sandy  loam,  and  may  be  grown  either  in 
pots  for  ornamenting  the  green-house,  or  planted  in  a 
cold  frame,  where,  if  protected  from  frost  in  winter,  they 
may  be  allowed  to  remain  altogether.  They  increase 
rapidly  by  offsets. 

THE  AMAZON  LILY,  (Eucharis.) 

THIS  is  a  free-growing  bulbous  plant  of  rare  beauty 
and  delicious  fragrance.  It  should  be  grown  in  the  hot- 
house or  a  warm  green-house.  The  flowers  are  produced 
in  a  truss  of  from  four  to  eight,  according  to  the  strength 
of  the  bulb  and  the  manner  of  treatment,  and  are  borne 
on  a  stem  that  lifts  them  just  above  the  leaves.  They 
are  pure  waxy  white,  and  of  great  substance.  The  species 
are  of  comparatively  recent  introduction,  and  owing  to  a 
general  impression  that  they  are  difficult  to  manage,  are 
but  little  grown.  The  plant  is  found  growing  by  the 
side  of  a  river  ;  consequently,  moisture  and  heat  are  es- 
sential to  the  development  of  its  flowers.  The  ease  with 
which  it  is  no\v  cultivated,  and  the  fact  that  a  dozen  or 
more  large  pots  of  it  will  furnish  flowers  nearly  the  whole 
year,  make  it  invaluable  in  all  collections  of  choice  plants. 


54  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

The  plants  may  be  potted  at  any  time  of  the  year,  tak- 
ing care  not  to  damage  the  bulbs  or  roots,  and  removing 
as  much  of  the  old  soil  as  possible.  The  soil  should  be 
composed  of  loam,  leaf  mould,  sand,  and  well-rotted 
manure  in  equal  proportions.  Give  the  pots  liberal  drain- 
age. While  they  are  growing  freely  they  should  have 
plenty  of  water  and  liquid  manure  twice  a  week.  They 
should  be  syringed  twice  a  day.  The  temperature  of  the 
house  during  winter  should  not  fall  below  70°,  and  the 
plants  should  have  a  good  share  of  sunshine. 

If  wanted  to  flower  during  the  winter  months,  water 
should  be  used  sparingly  from  August  to  October.  The 
bulbs  should  be  disturbed  as  little  as  possible,  repotting 
when  necessary,  without  division.  Side  shoots  may  be 
taken  off  at  any  time  and  potted  in  small  pots,  and,  if 
well  managed,  they  will  flower  in  a  year.  The  green  fly 
and  thrips  are  apt  to  trouble  them.  They  should  be 
sponged  off  or  got  rid  of  by  smoking  every  alternate  day 
for  a  week. 

The  three  species  at  present  known  are  E.  grandiflora, 
the  largest  and  best,  E.  Amazonica,  and  E.  Candida,  a  small- 
flowering  species,  but  very  beautiful.  They  all  require 
the  same  general  treatment.  The  plant  was  first  intro- 
duced in  1864. 


THE  OXALIS,  (Oxalis.) 

THIS  genus  comprises  a  great  number  of  species,  differ- 
ing widely  in  their  habits  and  manner  of  growth.  Some 
are  annuals,  some  herbaceous  perennials,  and  some  green- 
house shrubs.  Many  have  tuberous  roots,  and  others  are 
bulbs.  Some  are  tender,  and  others  perfectly  hardy. 
The  flowers  are  always  handsome  in  form  and  beautiful 
in  color.  The  leaves  vary  considerably,  but  they  are 


THE  OXALIS.  55 

mostly  trifoliate  and  slightly  acid.  Many  of  the  species 
are  grown  in  the  green-house,  one  of  the  most  useful 
being  O.  floribunda,  which  was  introduced  from  Brazil  in 
1829.  This  very  beautiful  species  requires  the  protection 
of  the  green-house  during  the  winter.  It  has  bright  rose- 
colored  flowers,  which  are  produced  in  great  abun- 
dance during  nearly  the  whole  year.  There  is  a  variety 
of  this  species  with  pure  white  flowers.  Both  are  rapidly 
increased  by  division  of  the  root. 

Of  the  bulbous  species,  O.  Bowiei  is  decidedly  the 
handsomest.  The  flowers  are  large  and  of  a  brilliant 
rose  color,  and  produced  in  the  greatest  profusion.  There 
is  also  a  white  variety  of  this  species.  O.  Bowiei  is  gen- 
erally cultivated  as  a  green-house  plant;  it  will,  however, 
endure  our  winters  if  planted  in  a  rockery  or  in  the  border; 
and  so  tenacious  is  it  of  life  that  it  will  dispute  possession 
with  almost  any  other  plant  in  the  bed.  This  species 
was  introduced  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in  1824. 
Another  most  desirable  kind  for  conservatory  decoration  is 
O.  lutea,  also  a  Cape  species,  with  large  terminal  clusters 
of  golden  yellow  flowers  on  long,  slender  scapes.  O.  versi- 
color  is  still  another  beautiful  species.  It  requires  the 
sunlight  to  expand  its  flowers ;  but  they  are  generally 
thought  to  be  more  beautiful  when  closed  than  when 
open.  The  colors  are  crimson,  white,  and  a  pale  shade 
of  yellow.  It  is  rapidly  increased  by  offsets.  There  is 
a  number  of  other  species  that  deserve  a  place  in  the 
green-house.  They  are  all  of  the  easiest  culture,  and 
grow  freely  in  a  sandy  loam.  The  bulbous  species  take 
a  season  of  rest,  and  should  be  potted  in  fresh  soil  in 
September  or  October. 


56  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

SQUILLS,  SCILLAS,  (Scilla.) 

AN  extensive  genus  of  very  pretty  bulbous  plants, 
nearly  all  of  which  are  hardy,  and  very  desirable  on  ac- 
count of  their  early  habit  of  flowering.  They  should  be 
planted  in  October,  either  in  the  open  ground  or  in  pots. 
They  prefer  a  light,  rich  soil.  S.  campanulata  is  a  native  of 
Spain,  and  has  beautiful  blue  flowers,  of  which  there  are 
varieties  with  white  and  pink  flowers.  S.  amoena,  with 

blue  flowers,  from  the 
Levant,  is  a  very  early 
flowering  species.  S. 
bifolia,  with  red,  blue, 
or  white  flowers.  S. 
Sibirica,  with  intense 
blue  flowers. 

These  are  all  beauti- 
ful plants,  and  well 
adapted  to  the  open 
border.  They  come 
into  flower  with  the 
Crocus,  and  continue 
in  bloom  much  longer. 
They  may  remain  undis- 
SQUILL.  (Scffla.)  turbed  where  planted 

for  a  number  of  years,  as  crowding  from  their  natural 
increase  does  not  seem  to  injure  them.  S.  Penwiana 
is  one  of  the  best  for  pot  culture.  It  is  a  native  of 
Italy  and  Spain,  and  not  of  Peru,  as  is  generally  sup- 
posed, and  as  its  name  would  imply.  Its  flowers  are 
dark  blue,  and  produced  in  long  racemes.  S.  ciliaris  is 
also  desirable  for  growing  in  pots.  The  last  two  are  not 
hardy.  All  the  species  are  well  worth  a  place  in  the 
garden  or  the  green-house. 


WINDOW    GARDENING.  57 

WINDOW   GARDENING,    BASKET   PLANTS, 

AND 

CARE  OF  PLANTS  IN  ROOMS. 


No  one,  unless  engaged  in  the  business  extensively,  as 
we  are,  can  have  any  conception  of  the  extent  to  which 
plants  are  used  for  window  gardening,  so-called,  and  also 
for  the  decor  -.don  of  the  sitting-room  or  parlor  during 
the  fall,  winter,  and  spring  months. 

WINDOW  BOXES. 

Window  gardening,  as  it  is  done  in  England — and  it  is 
yet  there  done  much  better  than  with  us — consists  in 
having  boxes  fitted  so  as  to  rest  on  the  window  sill  out- 
side the  window  ;  these,  of  course,  being  used  only  at 
those  seasons  when  it  is  warm  enough  for  plants  to  be 
placed  outside.  Such  boxes  may  be  made  of  wood,  terra- 
cotta, iron,  or  wire  patterns.  The  latter  are  probably 
the  best,  as  they  give  free  drainage  for  water,  and  for 
the  easy  admission  of  air  to  the  roots.  A  simple  and 
cheap  window  box  is  often  made  of  square  slats  an  inch 
or  so  in  thickness.  These  are  placed  at  from  half  an 
inch  to  an  inch  apart  at  the  bottom  and  sides.  This, 
like  the  wire  window  box,  gives  ample  drainage,  which  is 
always  a  great  advantage  to  the  plants  ;  for,  besides 
freely  allowing  the  water  to  pass  off,  the  spaces  allow  the 
air  to  get  through  the  soil  to  the  roots,  a  most  valuable 
advantage  to  the  health  of  the  plants.  As  in  wire  boxes, 
moss,  or  some  such  material,  must  be  placed  against  the 


58  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

slat-work,  to  prevent  the  soil  washing  through  when 
watering.  No  matter  what  material  the  window  box  be 
made  of,  outlets  for  water  must  be  provided,  either  by 
making  holes  an  inch  or  so  in  diameter,  at  distances  of 
six  inches  apart,  on  the  bottom,  or  making  the  bottom  of 
slats  placed  half  an  inch  or  so  apart. 

Window  boxes  are  often  made  to  be  quite  ornamental, 
but  this  is  of  little  consequence,  for  if  the  plants  in  them 
are  properly  grown,  they  will  be  the  most  attractive 
ornament ;  and  as  drooping  plants  are  essential  to  the 
beauty  of  the  window  box,  these  quickly  cover  up  all 
parts  of  it.  The  length  and  breadth  of  the  window  box, 
of  course,  should  conform  to  the  size  of  the  sill,  but  it 
should  never  exceed  six  inches  in  depth. 

SOIL. 

There  is  nothing  special  in  the  soil  used  for  window 
boxes  ;  the  same  rule  applies  here  as  for  plant  culture  in 
pots.  The  best  soil  is  what  is  called  a  turfy,  sandy 
loam ;  that  is,  the  soil  formed  by  rotted  sods  that  have 
been  cut  two  inches  thick  from  some  good  pasture  land. 
That,  with  the  addition  of  one-fourth  rotted  stable 
manure  well  mixed  through  it,  will  answer  for  almost 
any  plant  grown.  But  it  is  often  troublesome  to  get  the 
materials  to  compost  small  quantities  of  soil,  and  it  is 
usually  the  best  plan  to  get  what  soil  is  wanted,  either 
for  window  boxes  or  the  potting  of  plants,  from  the 
nearest  florist. 

KINDS  OF  PLANTS. 

When  the  window  box  is  placed  at  a  great  height  from 
the  street,  it  is  essential  that  the  colors  used  should  be 
of  the  brightest,  particularly  those  that  droop  or  hang 


WINDOW    GARDENING.  59 

over.  An  excellent  combination  is  made  by  planting 
the  first  or  inner  row  of  Scarlet  Geraniums,  the  middle 
row  of  the  Golden  Feather  plant,  while  the  outer  or 
drooping  line  should  be  of  Lobelia  gracilis,  which  has 
flowers  of  rich  blue,  drooping,  when  well  grown,  from 
one  and  a  half  to  two  feet.  Another  style  is  to  plant  the 
inside  line  with/f»6  Geraniums,  the  middle  line  of  the 
"  Rainbow  Plant,"  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  (Alternan- 
thera  parychoides  major,)  the  leaves  of  which  are  tinted 
yellow,  violet,  crimson,  orange,  etc.,  and  the  drooping  or, 
outer  line  of  scarlet  Tropceolums.  Sometimes  a  mixed 
variety  is  preferred,  which  may  be  made  of  Heliotropes, 
Lemon  Verbenas,  Fuchsias,  or  such  plants  as  taste  dictates, 
having  the  finer  kinds  of  Verbenas,  Petunias,  or  scarlet 
Nasturtiums  to  droop.  The  plants  should  be  set  out 
about  five  or  six  inches' apart. 

Window  boxes  are  often  used  to  grow  annual  plants 
only,  from  seed,  such  as  Mignonette,  Sweet  Alyssum, 
Asters,  Portulaca,  Drummond's  Phlox,  etc.  These  may 
either  be  sown  separately,  or  two  or  three  kinds  may  be 
sown  in  rows  in  the  same  box.  If  several  kinds  are 
sown,  the  drooping,  such  as  Phlox,  should  be  the  out- 
side line.  After  having  the  box  filled  with  proper  soil, 
draw  a  furrow  in  it  about  half  an  inch  deep,  and  in  that 
sow  the  seed,  the  ordinary  sized  packet  being  enough. 
Cover  the  soil  carefully  over  it,  and  then  press  the  soil  so 
as  to  moderately  firm  the  seed.  When  dry,  water  gently 
with  a  fine  rose  watering  pot.  If  the  seeds  are  sown  in 
the  window  boxes  inside  the  house,  it  may  be  done  any 
time  in  April ;  but  if  not  so  soon  wanted,  the  boxes  are 
placed  outside,  and  the  sowing  deferred  till  May. 

After  the  seedlings  or  plants  have  grown  so  as  to  be 
well  established  in  the  boxes,  they  should  be  copiously 
watered  once  every  other  day.  If  the  weather  be  dry, 


60  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

and  the  boxes  are  exposed  to  the  full  glare  of  the  noon- 
day sun,  no  light  sprinkling  will  answer  ;  the  water  must 
be  poured  on  until  it  runs  out  at  the  bottom  of  the  box. 
If,  however,  they  are  partly  shaded,  or  if  the  weather  be 
cloudy  or  wet,  judgment,  of  course,  must  be  used  in  the 
matter  of  watering.  The  rule  with  all  plants  in  pots  or 
boxes  is,  never  to  water  until  the  soil  is  dry,  and  then 
water  thoroughly.  This  dryness  can  be  determined  by 
the  soil  getting  lighter  in  color,  or  by  examination  by 
stirring  it  up  with  the  fingers. 

HANGING  BASKETS. 

V 

These  may  be  formed  of  materials  similar  to  those 
used  for  window  boxes,  although  the  usual  kinds  are 
such  as  are  formed  of  rustic  work  and  wire.  These  last 
are  rather  the  best  suited  for  the  health  of  the  plants  ; 
for,  as  in  window  boxes  so  made,  they  allow  full  oppor- 
tunity for  the  free  passage  of  water  from  the  soil,  and  for 
the  admission  of  air  to  the  roots.  As  hanging  baskets 
are  exposed  on  all  sides  to  the  air,  they  will  require  more 
attention  in  watering  than  window  boxes.  The  simplest 
and  most  efficient  way,  after  the  plants  have  become  well 
established,  is,  when  dry,  to  immerse  the  whole  basket  in 
a  tub  of  water.  This  is  particularly  essential,  if  the 
basket  is  made  of  wire  or  any  such  material.  Rustic 
baskets,  of  course,  do  not  drain  off  so  freely,  and  immers- 
ing them  in  water  is  not  so  essential,  so  that  the  rule  for 
watering  window  boxes  may  be  adapted  to  them.  The 
plants  for  hanging  baskets  may  be  similar  to  those  used 
for  window  boxes,  except  that  it  conduces  much  to  the 
appearance  of  the  baskets  to  have  some  graceful  plant 
placed  in  the  center  of  each  for  that  purpose.  Nothing 
is  better  than  some  of  the  Palms  or  Dracaenas.  Of  Palms, 


WINDOW    GARDENING.  6l 

Latania  borbonica  and  Corypha  australis  are  excellent; 
and  of  Draccznas,  D.  terminalis,  with  its  crimson  leaves, 
and  D.  indivisa,  with  its  drooping  green,  fountain-like 
foliage,  are  good  types,  though  there  are  scores  of 
others,  prominent  among  which  are  the  fancy  leaved 
Caladiums,  Rex  Begonias,  and  Crotons,  for  partially  shaded 
verandas.  If  the  basket  has  handles,  some  climbing 
plant,  such  as  Ivy  or  Climbing  Fern,  etc.,  may  be  trained 
on  these,  while  the  plants  used  for  drooping  over  the 
sides  may  be  such  as  are  advised  for  window  boxes. 

If  baskets  or  vases  are  in  very  exposed  situations,  such 
as  cemeteries,  where  water  cannot  be  easily  given,  it  is 
best  to  use  succulent  plants,  such  as  Echeverias  and 
Sempervivums,  (House  Leek,)  for  the  centers  of  the  vases 
or  baskets,  and  for  the  pendent  plants,  some  of  the 
beautiful  forms  of  the  Mesembryanthemums  or  Scdums, 
(Stone-crop.)  All  of  these  plants  thrive  with  compara- 
tively little  moisture  when  once  established  in  the  soil, 
and  present  a  good  appearance,  even  if  watered  copiously 
only  once  a  week  in  the  driest  weather. 

PLANTS  IN  ROOMS. 

Although  plants  can  now  be  purchased  almost  every- 
where at  very  low  rates,  it  is  always  a  satisfaction  to  the 
housewife  who  is  a  lover  of  plants  to  know  that  the  plant 
she  now  admires  and  cares  for  was  of  her  own  creation  ; 
that  she  herself  raised  it  from  a  slip  or  a  seed.  But  as 
the  best  modes  of  propagating  plants  would  involve  too 
much  space  in  this  article,  I  must  refer  such  as  need 
instruction  on  the  raising  of  plants  from  slips  or  seeds 
to  the  article  on  The  Propagation  of  Plants,  page  67. 
But  whether  the  plants  have  been  raised  at  home  or  pur- 
chased from  the  florist,  it  is  all  important  that  they  be  in 


62  GARDEN  AND  FARM  TOPICS. 

vigorous  health  to  start  with,  or  success  is  not  likely  to 
ensue ;  for  once  a  plant  gets  unhealthy,  it  is  a  loss  of 
labor  to  attempt  to  get  it  again  in  health.  It  is  better 
to  throw  it  away,  and  start  again  with  healthy  slips, 
seeds,  or  plants. 

If  the  young  plants  have  not  been  raised  at  home,  by 
slips  or  seeds,  it  is  always  better  to  purchase  young, 
healthy  plants  than  large  plants  that  have  been  forced 
into  flower,  although  we  well  know  that,  with  the  great 
majority  of  plant  cultivators,  this  advice  will  be  thrown 
away,  as  five  people  out  of  six  buy  only  plants  in  flower. 
It  is  really  far  better  for  the  purchaser  to  be  guided  by 
catalogue  descriptions  than  to  buy  plants  that  hav  been 
forced  into  flower  at  a  high  temperature. 

Supposing,  then,  that  the  plant  has  been  purchased 
from  the  florist,  and  has  been  growing  in  a  pot  three 
inches  deep  and  wide,  it  is  usually  in  a  condition  to 
require  a  larger  pot,  which  will  be  known  by  observing 
that  the  roots  mat  the  outside  of  the  ball  of  earth.  Such 
a  plant,  whether  it  be  a  Rose,  Geranium,  Fuchsia,  or  any 
other  similar  free-growing  plant,  will  require  a  pot  one 
or  two  inches  wider  than  that  it  has  been  grown  in.  It 
is  usually  the  safest  plan  to  shift  it  into  only  one  size 
larger ;  but  if  two  sizes  larger  are  used,  then  at  least  an 
inch  of  "  drainage  "  should  be  placed  in  the  bottom  of 
the  pot,  so  that  the  water  can  pass  freely  from  the 
greater  mass  of  soil.  This  drainage  may  consist  of 
charcoal,  broken  pots,  oyster  shells,  etc.  If  the  plant 
has  been  only  placed  in  a  pot  one  inch  larger  than  it 
has  been  growing  in,  then  there  is  no  need  for  drainage. 
We  ourselves  never  use  drainage  in  our  flower  pots, 
unless  for  some  reason  we  are  obliged  to  give  them  an 
extra  large  pot,  when  the  drainage  is  used  to  counteract 
the  evil  effects  of  using  a  too  large  pot. 


WINDOW   GARDENING.  63 


REPOTTING. 

The  indication  that  a  plant  needs  repotting  into  a  size 
larger  pot  is  known  by  knocking  it  out  of  the  pot,  by 
giving  a  smart  rap  on  the  edge  of  a  board,  just  as  is  done 
in  taking  a  form  of  jelly  out  of  a  mould.  If  the 
roots  have  become  matted  on  the  outer  surface  of  the 
ball  of  earth,  then  it  is  in  a  condition  to  require  a  larger 
sized  pot.  For  the  soil  to  use  in  potting,  that  recom- 
mended for  window  boxes  will  answer  equally  well  for 
plants  in  pots.  We  are  often  asked  if -saucers  should  be 
.  used  to  stand  pots  in.  As  a  matter  of  keeping  the  place 
clean  where  the  plants  stand,  it  is  a  necessity  ;  but  the 
saucers  should  never  be  filled  with  water,  unless  when 
sub-aquatic  plants  are  grown,  such  as  Agapanthus,  Callas, 
Hyacinths,  Tradescantias,  or  other  plants  of  similar  char- 
acter. The  best  temperature  for  parlor  plants  is  about 
55°  at  night,  which  may  be  increased  to  10  or  15 
degrees  higher  during  the  day. 

A 

.    ASPECT. 

The  best  aspect  for  plants  grown  in  rooms  is  east  or 
southeast,  south  or  southwest,  but  never  north.  It  is 
necessary,  once  in  eight  or  ten  days,  to  turn  the  plants, 
so  that  each  side  gets  an  equal  share  of  light,  else  the 
plants  will  get  lop-sided.  If  plants  drop  their  leaves,  or 
the  leaves  become  yellow,  it  is  usually  owing  to  one  of 
two  causes  :  either  that  the  soil  is  too  wet  or  too  dry. 
Either  condition  will  destroy  the  small  rootlets,  which  is 
indicated  by  the  condition  of  the  leaves.  There  is  usually 
more  injury  done  from  the  plants  being  too  wet  than  too 
dry. 


64  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


INSECTS. 

There  are  only  three  insects  that  are  really  trouble- 
some to  parlor  plants,  the  aphis,  or  green  fly,  the  red 
spider,  and  the  mealy  bug.  The  first  is  easily  destroyed 
by  tobacco  in  any  form,  either  as  liquid,  dust,  or  by 
smoke.  The  most  convenient  way  to  use  it  for  house 
plants,  is  to  first  wet  the  leaves,  then  dust  snuff  or  tobacco 
dust  over  them.  The  red  spider  insect  is  not  quite  so 
easy  to  manage.  It  never  appears  unless  the  air  is  hot 
and  dry,  when  it.  attacks  the  lower  side  of  the  leaves. 
The  best  remedy  is  to  wash  the  leaves  off  with  a  sponge  ; 
or,  if  the  plants  are  very  large,  lay  the  plants  on  their 
side,  and  strike  the  leaves  forcibly  with  water  from  a 
syringe  or  hose.  The  mealy  bug  insect  looks  like  little 
bits  of  white  cotton,  and  is  usually  found  at  the  axils  of 
the  leaves.  It  is  best  removed  by  a  strong  hair  pencil, 
after  which  syringe  or  sponge  the  plant. 

All  these  instructions  refer  to  plants  that  are  grown  in 
rooms  from  October  until  May.  After  that  date,  if  cir- 
cumstances permit,  the  plants  should  be  shifted  into 
good  sized  pots,  and  placed  in  the  open  garden,  sinking 
the  pots  in  the  earth  to  the  rim,  care  being  taken  to  pinch 
out  the  leading  shoots  of  the  plants,  so  as  to  make  them 
grow  into  good  shape.  If  the  pots  are  sunk  in  the  ground 
in  this  way,  care  must  be  taken  to  have  them  turned 
around  every  two  or  three  weeks,  else  the  roots  will  get 
through  the  hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  pot,  which  would 
have  to  be  broken  off,  and  this  would  seriously  injure 
them.  Perhaps  the  best  way  is  to  stop  up  the  hole 
entirely,  so  that  the  roots  cannot  get  through.  A  cork 
is  best  for  this  purpose,  as  it  must  be  taken  out  if  the 
plants  are  again  used  as  house  plants. 


WINDOW    GARDENING.  65 

Many  plants,  such  as  Geraniums,  Heliotropes,  Abuti- 
lons,  all  the  Coleuses,  Ageratums,  and  similar  strong  grow- 
ing plants,  usually  get  too  large  for  house  plants  the 
second  year,  and  it  is  better  with  all  such  to  use  young 
slips,  or  procure  young  plants  of  them  in  the  fall ;  while 
such  plants  as  Carnations,  Roses,  Azaleas,  Camellias,  Jes- 
samines, etc.,  are  better  when  older,  if  they  have  been 
properly  cared  for.  One  of  the  most  popular  house 
plants  for  fall  and  the  early  winter  months  is  the  Chrys- 
anthemum, of  which  there  is  now  an  endless  variety, 
embraced  in  the  three  types  known  as  "  Large  Flower- 
ing/' "  JaPan,"  arid  "  Bouquet "  or  "  Pompone."  They 
are  grown  with  the  greatest  ease  ;  and  if  the  flower  buds 
are  pinched  back  as  late  as  September  ist,  they  may  be 
had  in  bloom  nearly  to  Christmas. 

There  are  a  great  variety  of  plant  stands  and  other 
contrivances  on  which  to  set  plants  in  rooms,  but  as 
these  can  best  be  understood  by  illustrations,  florists' 
catalogues  must  be  consulted. 

CLIMBING  PLANTS. 

Among  this  class  of  plants  there  are  some  that  are 
well  adapted  for  culture  in  the  sitting-room  or  the  parlor; 
and  these,  aside  from  the  small  additional  trouble  of 
giving  them  something  to  climb  on,  are  as  easily  grown 
as  any  other  kind  of  plant,  and  do  well  with  the  same 
kind  of  soil  and  treatment.  While  some  are  admired  for 
the  beauty  of  their  flowers,  the  greater  number  are  also 
valued  as  furnishing  a  graceful  drapery  for  the  window 
and  its  surroundings,  and  a  not  less  picturesque  frame  of 
living  green  for  the  plants  on  the  table. 

Among  the  more  desirable  climbers  for  room  culture 
is  the  comparatively  new  so-called  German  Ivy,  (Senecio 


66  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

macroglossis,)  a  much  better  plant  than  the  old  kind.  It 
is  a  strong  and  rapid  grower,  with  glossy  leaves  that  so 
much  resemble  those  of  the  common  Ivy  as  to  be  easily 
mistaken  for  it.  As  free-growing  plants  of  this  kind  are 
troublesome  to  repot  when  trained,  it  is  a  good  plan  to 
give  them  at  the  beginning  a  pot  sufficiently  large  to  last 
during  the  winter,  taking  the  precaution,  in  this  case,  to 
give  a  sufficient  quantity  of  drainage  to  prevent  the  soil 
from  becoming  sour.  These  remarks  will  apply  to  all 
plants  of  this  kind. 

Another  pretty  climber  for  the  room  is  the  popular 
Smilax,  (Myrsiphyllum  asparagoidesj)  universally  admired 
for  its  graceful  foliage  and  the  sweetness  of  its  tiny  little 
flowers.  It  should  be  repotted  in  August,  or  at  least  as 
soon  as  the  new  growth  appears.  Shake  off  all  the  old 
soil  that  will  come  away,  (only  do  not  expose  the  roots 
too  much,)  and  replace  it  with  fresh,  rich  soil. 

Still  another  good  climber  for  room  culture  is  the 
Japanese  Climbing  Fern,  (Lygodium  scandens.)  The 
peculiar  beauty  of  this  plant  is  not  seen  till  it  gets  age, 
and  produces  abundantly  its  lovely  fertile  fronds.  A 
cool  room  will  suit  it  better  than  a  hot  one. 

For  training  on  small  wire  frames,  either  flat  or  round, 
few  plants  are  more  desirable  than  the  Ivy-leaved  Gera- 
niums. There  are  varieties  with  single,  and  others  with 
double  flowers,  of  various  shades  of  color.  The  leaves 
are  of  a  glossy  green,  and  closely  resemble  those  of  the 
English  Ivy.  Except  that  they  should  be  trained  to  a 
stake  or  a  frame,  they  are  treated  as  other  Geraniums. 

The  foliage  of  all  these  climbers  should  be  washed  off 
or  syringed  occasionally,  not  only  to  free  them  from 
dust,  but  also  from  insects,  especially  the  red  spider. 
There  are  other  climbers  that  do  well  in  rooms,  but  the 
above  are  among  the  best  and  easiest  grown. 


PROPAGATION    OF    PLANTS. 


PROPAGATION    OF  PLANTS 

BY 

CUTTINGS,  LAYERS,  DIVISION,  AND  SEED. 


PROBABLY  there  is  no  horticultural  operation  so  inter- 
esting as  that  of  Propagation.  Although  I  have  been  at 
the  business  now  for  nearly  forty-five  years,  still  there  is 
no  part  of  the  work  that  to  me  compels  such  unflagging 
interest  as  that  of  calling  into  separate  existence  a  dozen, 
a  hundred,  or  a  thousand  slips  from  one  plant,  or  of  watch- 
ing the  varied  forms  of  tiny  seedling  plants  when  called 
into  separate  individual  life  by  the  methods  used  for  that 
purpose.  No  matter  how  well  able  the  lover  of  plants  may 
be  to  buy  them  in  their  full  development,  they  never  have 
the  charm  that  the  bantlings  of  his  own  raising  give. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  with  amateur  florists,  who 
have  but  a  few  plants,  and  who  have  time  enough  and 
interest  enough  to  pet  and  care  for  each  particular  plant. 

The  following  instructions  in  the  art  of  propagation,  I 
trust,  will  be  so  plain  and  simple  that  the  most  inexperi- 
enced amateur,  as  well  as  the  young  florist,  will  be  able  to 
understand  and  follow  them.  The  instructions  will  con- 
tain all  our  most  recent  experience;  and  though  some  of 
them  will  be  nearly  identical  with  what  I  have  before 
written  on  this  subject  in  the  Hand-book  of  Plants,  yet 
there  is  such  additional  information  (particularly  on  Rose 
Propagation)  as  will  be  interesting  and  instructive,  I 
trust,  even  to  such  as  have  already  read  what  I  have 
before  written. 


68  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


PROPAGATION  BY  CUTTINGS. 

This  is  the  way  in  which  the  largest  number  of  plants 
are  propagated.  As  now  understood,  this  is  a  simple 
matter.  Formerly  no  operation  in  horticulture  was  more 
befogged  by  ignorant  pretenders,  who,  in  writing  or 
speaking  on  the  subject,  so  warped  the  operation  with 
troublesome  conditions  as  to  discourage,  not  only  ama- 
teurs in  horticulture,  but  inexperienced  professional  gar- 
deners as  well. 

One  of  the  first  necessary  conditions  in  the  propagation 
of  plants  by  cuttings  is,  that  the  plant  from  which  the 
cutting  or  slip  is  taken  must  be  in  vigorous  health.  If 
weak  or  tainted  by  disease,  failure  is  almost  certain  to 
result  If,  for  example,  we  wish  to  root  cuttings  of  green- 
house or  bedding  plants,  such  as  Bouvardias,  Chrysanthe- 
mums, Fuchsias,  Geraniums,  Heliotropes,  Salvias,  Verbenas, 
etc.,  one  of  the  best  guides  to  ib& proper  condition  is  when 
the  cutting  breaks  or  snaps  clean  off  instead  of  bending 
or  "kneeing."  If  it  snaps  off  so  as  to  break,  then  it  is  in 
the  condition  to  root  freely;  if  it  bends,  it  is  too  old,  and 
though  it  will  root,  it  will  root  much  slower,  and  make  a 
weaker  plant  than  the  slip  that  snaps  off  on  being  bent. 
With  very  few  exceptions,  and  those  of  but  little  import- 
ance, cuttings  of  all  kinds  root  freely  from  slips  taken 
from  the  young  wood,  that  is,  the  young  growth,  before  it 
gets  hardened,  and  when  in  the  condition  indicated  by 
the  "snapping  test,"  as  it  is  called. 

I  believe  I  was  the  first  to  call  attention  to  this  valu- 
able test  of  the  condition  of  the  cutting  (snapping)  in 
my  work,  Practical  Floriculture,  first  published  in  1868. 
A  very  general  idea  is  current  that  cuttings  must  be  cut 
at  or  below  an  eye  or  joint.  The  practice  of  this  system 


PROPAGATION    OF    PLANTS.  69 

is  not  only  rarely  necessary,  but  it  leads  undoubtedly  to 
many  cases  of  failure;  not  that  the  cutting  at  or  below  a 
joint  either  hinders  or  assists  the  formation  of  roots,  but 
from  the  fact  that,  when  a  slip  is  cut  at  a  joint,  the  shoot 
often  has  become  too  hard  at  that  point,  while  half  an 
inch  higher  up,  or  above  the  joint,  the  proper  condition 
will  be  found.  I  know  that  it  will  root  even  when  in 
the  too  hard  condition,  but  the  roots  emitted  will  be  hard 
and  slender,  and,  as  a  consequence,  will  not  be  likely  to 
make  a  plant  of  the  same  vigor  as  that  made  from  the 
cutting  in  the  proper  state;  besides,  as  the  hard  cutting 
takes  a  longer  time  to  root,  its  chances  of  failing  from 
unfavorable  atmospheric  conditions  are  thus  increased. 

With  these  instructions  for  the  proper  state  of  the  cut- 
ting, I  now  proceed  to  describe  the  medium  wherein 
it  is  to  be  placed,  and  the  conditions  of  temperature, 
moisture,  etc.  If  these  are  strictly  followed,  failure  is  an 
impossibility  ;  for  the  laws  governing  the  rooting  of  a 
slip  are  as  certain  as  those  governing  the  germination  of 
a  seed.  In  our  own  practice,  when  these  conditions  are 
strictly  followed,  failure  is  unknown,  when  the  cutting  or 
slip  is  in  the  proper  condition  of  health. 

The  best  degree  of  temperature  to  root  cuttings  of  the 
great  majority  of  green-house  and  bedding  plants  is  65° 
of  bottom  heat,  indicated  by  a  thermometer  plunged 
in  the  sand  of  the  bench,  and  an  atmospheric  temperature 
of  15°  less.  A  range  of  10°  may  be  allowed,  that  is,  5° 
lower  or  5°  higher;  but  the  nearer  the  heat  of  the  sand 
can  be  kept  to  65°,  and  that  of  the  rest  of  the  house  to 
50°,  the  more  perfect  the  success  will  be.  If  a  much 
higher  temperature  be  maintained,  it  will  be  at  the 
expense  of  the  ultimate  health  of  the  plants.  These 
temperatures  refer  to  propagation  under  glass  from 
November  to  April  Of  course,  when  the  outside  tern- 


7O  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

perature  is  higher  these  temperatures  cannot  be  main- 
tained. 

Sand  is  the  best  medium  in  which  to  place  cuttings; 
color  or  texture  is  of  no  special  importance.  What  we 
use  is  the  ordinary  sand  used  by  builders;  this  is  laid  on 
the  hot-bed  or  bench  of  the  green-house  to  the  depth  of 
about  three  inches  and  firmly  packed  down.  When 
"  bottom  heat "  is  wanted,  the  flue  or  pipes  under  the 
bench  of  the  green-house  are  boarded  in,  so  that  the  heat 
strikes  the  bottom  of  the  bench,  thus  raising  the  temper- 
ature in  the  sand.  We  prefer  the  bottom  of  the  bench  to 
be  of  slate,  as  it  is  a  better  conductor  than  boards;  but 
in  the  absence  of  slate  boards  will  answer. 

From  the  time  the  cuttings  are  inserted  in  the  sand 
until  they  are  rooted,  they  should  never  be  allowed  to  get 
dry;  in  fact,  our  practice  is  to  keep  the  sand  soaked  with 
water  until  the  cutting  is  just  on  the  point  of  emitting 
roots,  the  cutting  bench  being  watered  copiously  every 
morning,  and  often,  when  the  atmosphere  is  dry,  again 
in  the  evening,  (when  the  green-house  is  artificially 
heated.)  Kept  thus  saturated,  there  is  less  chance  of 
the  cutting  getting  wilted,  either  by  heat  from  the 
sun  or  from  fire  heat;  for  if  a  cutting  once  gets  wilted, 
its  juices  are  expended,  and  it  becomes  in  the  condition 
of  a  hard  cutting,  the  condition  in  which,  when  bent,  it 
will  not  snap  nor  break,  which  has  already  been  described. 
To  avoid  this  wilting  or  flagging  of  the  cutting,  every 
means  that  will  suggest  itself  to  the  propagator  is  to  be 
used.  Our  practice  is  to  shade  and  ventilate  in  the  prop- 
agating house  or  hot-bed  just  as  soon  in  the  forenoon 
as  the  action  of  the  sun's  rays  on  the  glass  raises  the 
temperature  of  the  house  to  65°  or  70°.  Of  course, 
in  hot  weather  the  temperature  cannot  be  thus  lowered, 
and  for  this  reason  the  propagation  of  plants  is  a  diffi- 


PROPAGATION    OF    PLANTS.  71 

cult  matter  during  the  months  of  June,  July,  and  August, 
except  such  plants  as  Coleus  and  others  of  tropical 
origin. 

This  practice  of  ventilating  the  propagating  house  or 
hot-bed  is,  I  am  aware,  not  in  very  common  use,  many 
contending  that  the  place  where  the  propagating  is  done 
should  at  all  times  be  kept  close.  I  have  tried  both 
methods  long  enough  and  extensively  enough  to  satisfy 
myself  beyond  all  question,  that  ventilating  and  propa- 
gating at  a  low  temperature  are  capable  of  producing  a 
larger  number  of  plants  during  the  season  than  a  high 
temperature  and  a  close  atmosphere.  There  need  be  no 
failures;  and  it  has  the  important  advantage  of  produc- 
ing a  healthy  stock,  which  the  close  or  high  temperature 
system  would  fail  to  do  in  the  case  of  many  plants.  I 
have  often  heard  propagators  boasting  of  rooting  cut- 
tings in  five  days.  I  am  well  aware  that  this  may  be 
done,  but  I  am  also  aware  that  it  is  often  done  in  damp 
and  cloudy  weather  at  the  risk  of  the  whole  crop,  and  it 
must  be  done  at  a  high  temperature,  which  at  all  times 
causes  the  plants  to  draw  up  slender,  and  thus  impairs 
their  vitality. 

FUNGUS  OF  THE  CUTTING  BENCH. 

Permitting  a  moderate  circulation  of  air  in  the  propa- 
gating house  tends  to  prevent  the  germination  of  that 
spider-web-like  substance,  which,  for  want  of  a  better 
term,  is  known  among  gardeners  as  the  "fungus  of  the 
cutting  bench,"  Every  one  who  has  had  any  experience 
in  propagating  knows  the  baneful  effects  of  this;  how 
that,  in  one  night,  it  will  often  sweep  off  thousands  of 
cuttings  that  a  few  hours  before  were  in  healthful  vigor. 
But  this  dangerous  enemy  of  the  propagator  requires, 


72  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

like  vegetation  of  higher  grades,  conditions  suitable  to 
its  development,  which  are  a  calm  atmosphere  and  a 
temperature  above  55°  or  60°.  Hence,  to  avoid  this 
pest,  we  make  every  effort,  by  shading,  airing,  and 
regulation  of  fire  heat,  to  keep  the  atmosphere  of  the 
house  so  that  it  shall  not  exceed  60  degrees.  This,  of 
course,  is  not  practicable  when  the  outside  temperature 
in  the  shade  is  above  60°;  but  the  temperature  can 
be  reduced  considerably  by  dashing  water  on  the  path- 
ways and  other  parts  of  the  house.  It  is  rarely,  how- 
ever, that  the  outside  temperature  ever  exceeds  60° 
at  night  for  any  length  of  time  in  the  vicinity  of  New 
York  before  the  middle  of  May,  and  all  propagating 
had  better  be  finished  previous  to  that  time,  unless*  of 
tropical  plants.  In  the  fall  months,  about  the  middle  of 
September,  operations  in  propagating  may  again  begin. 

The  temperature  is  prevented  from  rising  in  the  house 
in  various  ways,  some  using  canvas,  or  bast  matting, 
or  syringing  the  glass  with  a  mixture  of  naphtha  and 
white  lead,  made  about  the  color  and  consistency  of  thin 
skim  milk.  We  find,  however,  the  best  and  most  con- 
venient shading  to  be  that  formed  by  flexible  screens 
made  of  common  lath,  planed  and  attached  together  like 
Venetian  blinds,  the  laths  being  an  inch  or  so  apart. 
These  can  be  quickly  rolled  or  unrolled,  and  give  an  ever- 
varying  modified  shade,  sufficiently  cooling  to  the  house, 
yet  not  darkening  the  cutting  enough  to  impair  its  vigor. 
These  are  not  unrolled  in  the  morning  until  the  tempera- 
ture inside  indicates  it  to  be  necessary,  and  are  rolled  up 
in  the  afternoon  as  soon  as  the  sun  ceases  to  shine  on  the 
glass,  for  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the  cuttings 
receive  as  much  light  as  they  will  bear  without  becoming 
wilted.  An  objection  to  these  screens,  however,  is  their 
expense,  as  they  cost  about  ten  cents  per  square  foot. 


PROPAGATION    OF    PLANTS.  73 

The  time  required  by  cuttings  to  root  varies  from 
eight  to  twenty  days,  according  to  the  variety,  condition 
of  the  cutting,  and  temperature.  Verbenas,  Fuchsias, 
or  Heliotropes,  put  in  in  proper  condition,  and  kept 
without  ever  being  allowed  to  wilt,  will  root,  in  an 
average  bottom  heat  of  65°,  in  eight  days,  while  Roses, 
Pelargoniums,  or  Petunias  will  take  at  least  double  that 
time  under  the  same  conditions. 

It  is  best  to  pot  off  the  cuttings  at  once  when  rooted, 
no  matter  how  small  the  roots  may  be;  half  an  inch  is  a 
much  better  length  for  them  to  be  when  potted  than  two 
inches,  and  the  operation  is  much  quicker  performed 
when  the  roots  are  short  than  when  long.  But  the  main 
evils  of  delaying  the  potting  off  of  cuttings  are,  that  when 
left  too  long  the  cuttings  grow  up  weak  and  spindling, 
the  roots  become  hard,  and  do  not  take  as  quickly  to  the 
pot.  The  same  care  is  required  in  shading  and  watering 
after  potting,  nearly,  as  in  the  cutting  bench;  for  no  mat- 
ter how  carefully  taken  up,  in  the  operation  of  potting 
the  delicate  roots  get  less  or  more  injured,  and  until 
the  cuttings  begin  to  emit  new  roots  they  are  nearly  as 
liable  to  wilt  as  the  unrooted  cuttings. 

Cuttings  should  always  be  placed  in  small  pots,  the 
best  size  being  from  two  to  two  and  a  half  inches  wide 
and  deep;  if  placed  in  larger  pots  the  soil  dries  out  too 
slowly,  and  the  tender  root,  imbedded  too  long  in  a  mass 
of  wet  soil,  rots,  and  the  plant  dies.  Though  we  generally 
prefer  soil  to  be  unsifted  in  potting  large  plants,  yet  for 
newly-potted  cuttings  it  is  better  to  be  sifted  fine,  not 
only  that  it  is  more  congenial  thus  to  the  young  roots, 
but  also  that  the  operation  is  quicker  done  with  finely- 
sifted  soil. 

After  potting,  the  .cuttings  are  placed  on  benches  cov- 
ered with  an  inch  or  so  of  sand,,  watered  freely  with  a 


74  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

fine  rose  watering  pot,  and  shaded  for  four  or  five  days; 
by  that  time  they  will  have  begun  to  root,  when  no  further 
shading  is  necessary. 

"SAUCER  SYSTEM  "OF  PROPAGATION. 

The  above  methods  of  propagating  by  cuttings  are 
such  as  are  now  practised  by  commercial  florists,  but  for 
amateurs  in  horticulture,  or  gardeners  who  have  charge 
of  private  green-houses,  there  is  usually  no  necessity  for 
a  regular  propagating  house,  unless  the  requirements  for 
plants  are  unusually  large,  as  the  "Saucer  System"  of 
propagation  will  answer  every  purpose,  and  it  is  the  safest 
of  all  methods  in  inexperienced  hands.  I  was,  I  believe, 
the  first  to  introduce  this  system  some  twenty  years  ago, 
and  here  repeat  the  directions  first  given  in  one  of  the 
horticultural  journals  at  that  time:  Common  saucers 
or  plates  are  used  to  hold  the  sand  in  which  the  cuttings 
are  placed.  This  sand  is  put  in  to  the  depth  of  an  inch 
or  so,  and  the  cuttings  inserted  in  it  close  enough  to  touch 
each  other.  The  sand  is  then  watered  until  it  becomes 
of  the  condition  of  mud,  and  placed  on  the  shelf  of  the 
green-house,  or  on  the  window-sill  of  the  sitting-room  or 
parlor,  fully  exposed  to  the  sun,  and  never  shaded.  But 
one  condition  is  essential  to  success:  until  the  cuttings 
become  rooted  the  sand  must  be  kept  continually  saturated, 
and  kept  in  the  condition  of  mud;  if  once  allowed  to  dry 
up,  exposed  to  the  sun  as  they  are,  the  cuttings  will  quickly 
wilt,  and  the  whole  operation  will  be  defeated. 

The  rules  previously  laid  down  for  the  proper  condition 
of  the  cuttings  are  the  same  in  this  case,  and  those  for 
the  temperature  nearly  so;  although,  by  the  saucer  sys- 
tem, a  higher  temperature  can  be  maintained  without  in- 
jury, as  the  cuttings  are  in  reality  placed  in  water,  and 


PROPAGATION    OF    PLANTS.  75 

will  not  droop  at  the  same  temperature  as  if  the  sand  were 
kept  in  the  regular  condition  of  moisture  maintained  in 
the  propagating  bench.  Still,  the  detached  slip,  until 
rooted,  will  not  endure  a  continuation  of  excessive  heat, 
so  that  we  advise,  as  we  do  in  the  regular  method  of 
propagating,  that  the  attempt  should  not  be  made  to  root 
cuttings  in  this  way,  in  this  latitude,  in  the  months  of 
June,  July,  or  August,  unless  with  plants  of  a  tropical 
nature.  When  the  cuttings  are  rooted,  they  should  be 
potted  in  small  pots,  and  treated  carefully  by  shading 
and  watering  for  a  few  days,  as  previously  directed.  All 
kinds  of  plants  may  be  rooted  by  this  method  when  the 
young  green  wood  is  used,  whether  of  soft  wooded  plants, 
such  as  Fuchsias,  Carnations,  Geraniums,  Heliotropes, 
etc.,  or  of  hard-wooded  plants,  such  as  Roses  or  Azaleas, 
provided  that  the  same  condition  of  cutting  is  adhered  to 
as  advised  for  the  other  methods. 

PROPAGATION  OF  ROSES  BY  CUTTINGS. 

As  the  propagation  of  Roses  by  cuttings  is  a  matter  of 
very  wide-spread  interest,  I  will  give  a  special  descrip- 
tion of  our  method.  The  rule  that  applies  to  the  proper 
condition  of  soft- wooded  plants,  such  as  Fuchsias,  Helio- 
tropes^ or  Verbenas,  (that  is,  that  the  young  shoot  should 
be  in  a  state  to  snap  or  break  off  instead  of  bend,)  does 
not  apply  to  the  proper  condition  of  the  Rose  cutting. 
The  young  shoot  of  the  Rose  is  also  what  is  to  be  used, 
but  it  must  be  hard  and  woody.  For  example,  when  a 
Rose  bud  is  developed  enough  to  be  cut,  the  shoot  on 
which  it  grows  is  about  in  the  right  condition  for  cut- 
tings, each  leaf  of  the  shoot  with  its  bud  at  the  axil,  and 
two  or  three  inches  of  stem,  making  a  cutting;  that  is, 
what  is  called  a  single  eye  cutting.  They  are  simply 


76  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

made  by  making  one  rather  slanting  cut  between  the 
joints,  or  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  above  the  eye. 
About  one-third  of  the  leaf  is  cut  off,  mainly  for  the 
reason  of  allowing  more  cuttings  to  be  put  in  the  cutting 
bench.  If  by  any  accident  the  leaf  is  all  taken  off,  a 
Rose  cutting  in  this  condition  will  never  root  to  make  a 
good  plant;  or  if,  from  any  cause,  the  leaves  drop  off 
while  the  cuttings  are  in  the  process  of  rooting,  not  one 
in  ten  will  ever  make  a  satisfactory  plant.  Besides  the 
system  of  using  cuttings  made  from  one  eye  or  bud, 
the  "  blind  wood,"  so-called,  (that  is,  the  shoots  that  do 
not  produce  flower  buds,)  is  also  used,  and  generally 
makes  the  safest  and  best  kind  of  cuttings,  as  these  blind 
shoots  are  hard  and  slender,  and  root  rather  quicker 
than  cuttings  made  from  single  eyes.  These  shoots 
are  usually  too  short-jointed  to  be  made  into  single  eye 
cuttings,  and  have  of  ten  two  or  more  eyes  in  the  cutting; 
but  the  foliage  should  be  shortened  off  about  one-third, 
as  in  the  single  eye  cuttings,  A  good  length  for  a  Rose 
cutting  is  three  inches,  though  in  some  short-jointed 
kinds  no  more  than  one  inch  length  of  cutting  can  be 
obtained. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  propagating  Roses  from  cut- 
tings of  healthy  young  wood,  if  //  is  grown  under  glass, 
anytime  from  September  to  May;  but  during  the  months 
of  June,  July,  and  August,  it  is  a  process  requiring  great 
care  and  attention.  We,  however,  grow  hundreds  of 
thousands  in  this  way  by  the  following  method:  About 
the  middle  of  May  we  plant  out  our  stock  plants  on  the 
green-house  benches,  in  four  or  five  inches  of  rather 
poor  soil,  containing  not  a  particle  of  manure,  the  object 
being  to  induce  a  hard  and  slender  woody  growth  of 
cuttings,  instead  of  a  soft  and  pithy  one.  Obtaining 
cuttings  of  this  kind,  there  is  no  great  difficulty  in  root- 


PROPAGATION    OF    PLANTS.  77 

ing  them.  I  will  state,  however,  that  after  they  are 
potted  off,  carefully  shading  from  the  hot  sun  is  neces- 
sary until  the  root  strikes  through  to  the  side  of  the  pot. 
I  have  found  it  to  be  a  great  help  in  propagating 
in  summer  to  sift  a  thin  layer  of  fine  moss  or  cocoa- 
nut  fiber  over  the  Rose  cuttings  after  potting.  This 
keeps  them  moist,  acting  as  a  mulch,  and  also,  after  they 
have  rooted,  it  keeps  them  cool  in  hot  weather,  both 
materials  being  excellent  non-conductors. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that,  no  matter  how  healthy  Rose 
cuttings  may  be  when  growing  in  the  open  ground,  they 
can  rarely  be  got  in  condition,  during  the  summer 
months,  to  root.  I  have  tried  them  at  all  seasons  and 
in  all  conditions,  but  do  not  think  I  ever  made  a  success 
during  the  months  of  June,  July,  or  August.  They  in- 
variably drop  their  leaves,  and  this  means  failure  every 
time.  Why  they  should  do  so  more  than  those  grown 
inside,  I  have  never  yet  been  able  to  discover,  but  that 
such  are  the  facts  any  one  trying  it  will  very  quickly 
find  out.  My  experience  in  this  matter  has  been  con- 
fined to  the  latitude  of  New  York.  I  believe  tnat  in 
some  sections  of  the  country,  by  the  shoots  becoming 
better  ripened,  they  may  be  successfully  propagated 
from  out-door  wood  in  the  summer. 

Hybrid  Perpetual  and  even  Monthly  Roses,  however, 
can  be  propagated  from  cuttings  of  well-ripened  hard 
wood  grown  in  the  open  ground,  put  in  in  October 
or  November  in  any  place,  (a  cold  green-house  or  a  cold 
frame,)  where  they  can  be  kept  just  above  the  freezing 
point  at  night;  say  from  32°  to  40°,  with  10°  to  15°  more 
during  the  day.  They  must  not  get  much  frost,  though 
a  few  degrees  would  do  no  harm,  except  to  retard  them; 
but  artificial  heat,  for  any  length  of  time,  above  40°  to 
hard  wood  cuttings  is  almost  certain  to  destroy  them.  I 


78  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

remember,  some  years  ago,  my  foreman  insisted  that  we 
should  put  in  a  lot  of  the  prunings  of  a  lot  of  new  Hybrid 
Perpetual  Roses  that  we  had  received  in  December  from 
Europe,  in  our  regular  Propagating  House.  I  told  him  it 
was  useless;  but  he  insisted  on  being  allowed  to  try.  I 
gave  him  the  privilege,  provided  he  did  the  work  in  his 
own  time  at  night.  He  worked  most  diligently,  and  got 
three  or  four  of  the  hands  to  help  him  for  a  week  at  nights. 
He  got  some  20,000  cuttings  in  the  propagating  bench, 
where  the  temperature  of  the  sand  marked  65°.  The 
cuttings  threw  out  shoots  an  inch  in  length,  callused 
beautifully,  and  up  to  that  point  any  one  that  had  not 
gone  through  the  thing  before  would  have  said  that  the 
operation  was  a  success.  One  morning,  about  ten  days 
after  being  put  in,  he  called  me  to  witness  his  victory ; 
but  I  astounded  him  by  saying,  that  for  every  plant  he 
made  from  the  20,000  cuttings  I  would  give  him  25  cents. 
He  watched  and  redoubled  his  care;  but  it  was  no  use.  In 
less  than  a  month  every  cutting  had  blackened  and 
rotted. 

Had  the  temperature  of  the  sand  never  exceeded 
40°,  a  large  proportion  would  have  rooted;  but  it  would 
have  taken  four  or  five  months  to  do  so;  and  then  the 
results  are  never  so  satisfactory  as  when  cuttings  are 
made  from  the  green  wood  taken  from  growing  plants 
under  glass.  When,  however,  there  is  no  green-house  at 
hand,  but  only  cold  frames,  such  as  are  used  for  cabbage 
or  lettuce  plants,  the  hard  wood  cuttings  of  Roses  placed 
in  such  in  October  will,  if  not  too  much  frozen,  root 
strongly  by  April.  One  of  our  market  gardeners  here  has 
followed  the  plan  for  twenty  years.  His  cold  frames, 
where  he  keeps  his  cabbage  plants,  are  well  sheltered, 
and  he  roots  thousands  of  Hybrid  Perpetual  Rose  cut- 
tings simply  by  sticking  them  between  the  rows  of  cab- 


PROPAGATION    OF    PLANTS.  79 

bage  plants.  He  thus  gets  four  or  five  hundred  in  a  3  X  6 
sash,  without  detriment  to  the  cabbage  plants,  as  they 
are  leafless,  and  look  like  dried  sticks  until  the  cabbage 
plants  are  taken  out  in  spring,  when  they  begin  to  leaf 
out,  and  are  rooted  sufficiently  to  pot  by  the  ist  of  May. 

PROPAGATING  ROSES  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES. 

The  method  of  propagating  Roses  at  the  South  is  very 
simple,  particularly  in  the  vicinity  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  Sa- 
vannah, Ga.,or  in  almost  any  part  of  Florida.  There  the 
long,  heated  summers  raise  the  temperature  of  the  sandy 
soil  as  high  as  the  atmosphere  in  the  winter  months,  if  not 
higher,  forming,  in  fact,  a  sort  of  natural  hot-bed.  All,  then, 
that  it  is  necessary  to  do  in  such  a  case  is  to  make  cut- 
tings of  Roses,  either  Monthly  or  Hybrid  Perpetual,  into 
lengths  of  five  or  six  inches,  and  make  a  trench  deep 
enough  to  plant  them,  leaving  only  one  or  two  eyes  or 
buds  above  ground.  Care  must  be  taken  to  firm  the  cut- 
tings well  in  with  the  foot,  so  as  to  exclude  the  air.  The 
cuttings  may  be  set  in  the  trenches  four  to  six  inches 
apart,  and  two  or  three  feet  between  the  lines.  Cuttings 
of  Roses  planted  in  this  way,  in  these  or  similar  states,  in 
November  and  December,  will  form  roots  by  February; 
and  if  left  to  grow  where  placed  without  being  disturbed, 
will  have  made  growths  of  from  one  to  five  feet  in  the 
following  September,  according  to  the  variety  or  class. 

PROPAGATION  BY  LAYERING. 

Propagating  by  layering  in  the  usual  way  in  the  soil  is 
but  little  practised  now-a-days,  since  the  ways  of  rooting 
plants  by  cuttings  have  been  so  greatly  simplified;  but 
occasionally  some  one  may  want  a  few  plants  of  a  Rose 


8o  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

or  other  shrub  growing  in  the  open  ground  who  has  not 
other  ways  of  propagation  at  command,  when  this  plan 
may  be  safely  adopted. 

Although  layering  may  be  done  with  the  ripened  wood 
of  vines  or  shrubs  of  the  growth  of  the  previous  season, 
yet  it  is  preferable  to  use  the  shoot  of  the  present  year 
in  its  half  green  state;  for  example,  a  Rose  or  flower- 
ing shrub  is  pruned  in  the  usual  way  in  spring;  by 
June  or  July  it  will  have  made  strong  shoots  one,  two, 
or  three  feet  in  length  from  or  near  the  base  of  the 
plant.  Take  the  shoot  then  in  the  left  hand,  (after 
having  stripped  it  of  its  leaves  for  a  few  inches  on  each 
side  of  where  it  is  to  be  cut,)  keep  the  fingers  under  the 
shoot,  and  make  a  clean  cut  on  the  upper  part ',  an  inch  or 
so  in  length,  and  to  about  half  the  thickness  of  the  shoot, 
then  slightly  twist  the  "  tongue  "  or  cut  part  to  one  side. 
Having  opened  a  shallow  trench,  fasten  the  branch 
down  with  a  hooked  peg,  and  cover  with  earth.  It  is  a 
good  plan  to  place  a  flat  stone  over  the  layer  to  prevent 
the  soil  from  drying  out. 

This  plan  of  cutting  the  shoot  on  the  upper  side  I 
have  never  seen  in  illustrations  showing  the  manner  of 
layering,  it  being  usually  either  on  the  side  or  under; 
but  I  have  found  in  practice  that  it  is  much*  the  safest 
plan,  as  the  "  tongue,''  when  cut  on  the  top  part  of  the 
shoot,  has  far  less  chance  to  be  broken  off. 

PROPAGATION  BY  LAYERING  IN  POTS. 

This  is  the  process  of  layering  shoots  or  runners  of 
plants  in  pots,  so  that,  when  the  root  forms  in  the  pot, 
the  plant  can  be  detached  without  injury  to  it,  as  the 
roots  are  confined  exclusively  to  the  soil  in  the  pot.  Lay- 
ering plants  in  pots  can  be  done  with  Roses?  vines,  or 


PROPAGATION    OF    PLANTS.  8l 

shrubs  of  any  kind,  with  always  more  certainty  of  making 
a  plant  quicker  than  by  the  ordinary  way  of  layering  the 
shoot  in  the  soil,  because  when  lifted  there  is  no  dis- 
turbance of  the  roots.  This  system  of  propagating 
Strawberries  has  been  largely  practised  during  the  past 
ten  years  in  the  United  States,  and  is  now  a  favorite 
method.  For  details,  see  Strawberry  Culture. 

PROPAGATION  BY  LAYERING  IN  THE  AIR. 

About  twenty  years  ago  I  published  a  method  of 
propagating  Geraniums,  that  I  believed  originated  with 
me,  and  which  I  called,  for  want  of  a  better  term,  "  Lay- 
ering in  the  Air."  It  consists  in  tonguing  the  shoot  to 
be  used  as  a  cutting  half  through  with  a  knife,  as  in  the 
ordinary  layering.  The  shoot  so  treated  forms  granula- 
tions, or  "callus,"  on  the  cut  surface,  and  is  in  a  condi- 
tion to  form  roots  immediately  on  being  detached  and 
put  into  the  earth. 

A  year  or  two  ago  I  bethought  myself  of  my  long- 
forgotten  plan  of  "layering  in  the  air,"  but  this  time 
I  improved  upon  the  former  way  of  doing  it.  In- 
stead of  tonguing  the  shoot  to  be  used  for  a  cutting, 
as  before,  it  was  merely  snapped  short  off  at  a  point 
where  the  condition  of  the  shoot  or  slip  would  make  it 
hang  on  to  the  plant  by  the  merest  shred  of  bark.  Slight 
as  this  strip  of  bark  is,  it  is  sufficient  to  sustain  the  cut- 
ting, without  any  material  injury  from  wilting,  until  it 
forms  the  <;  callus,"  or  granulated  condition,  which  pre- 
cedes the  formation  of  roots. 

The  cutting,  or  slip,  may  be  detached  in  from  ten  to 
twelve  days  after  it  has  been  broken  in  the  manner 
described,  and  then  potted  in  two  or  three  inch  pots.  If 
watered  and  shaded  rather  less  than  required  by  ordinary 


82  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

cuttings,  it  will  form  roots  in  ten  or  twelve  days  more, 
and  not  more  than  two  per  cent,  will  fail.  Plants  of  the 
Tricolor  Geraniums,  which  all  know  are  difficult  to  root 
under  the  ordinary  modes  of  propagation,  particularly  in 
hot  weather,  do  excellently  by  this  plan. 

The  advantage  of  this  method  is  not  only  that  the 
slips  root  with  far  greater  facility,  but  the  injury  to 
the  stock  or  mother  plants  is  far  less  than  if  the  slips  had 
been  cut  clean  off  instead  of  being  only  partly  detached. 
Many  other  plants  can  be  thus  propagated  with  safety, 
notably  Begonias,  Petunias,  Poinsettias,  and  such  plants, 
the  cuttings  of  which  have  a  tendency  to  damp  in  hot 
weather. 

PROPAGATION  BY  DIVISION. 

This  is  the  simplest  of  all  methods  of  increasing  plants, 
but  it  is  almost  exclusively  confined  to  hardy  herbaceous 
border  plants,  although  Cannas,  Dahlias,  and  various  other 
tender  plants  can  also  be  propagated  in  this  way.  But 
whenever  plants  are  propagated  by  division,  it  is  best 
done  at  their  natural  period  of  starting  to  grow.  Thus 
Phloxes,  Chrysanthemums,  Paeonias,  Iris,  and  grasses  of 
all  kinds  start  to  grow  in  the  Northern  States  in  the  open 
ground  about  May  ist,  which  is  the  best  time  to  divide; 
while  Cannas,  Dahlias,  and  other  tender  tropical  plants 
should  not  be  divided,  if  to  be  set  out  in  the  open  ground, 
until  a  month  later,  or  say  the  first  week  in  June.  In 
all  cases,  here  as  in  cuttings,  firm  the  divided  roots  well 
with  the  foot  to  exclude  the  air ;  otherwise  the  operation 
may  fail. 

PROPAGATION   BY  SEEDS. 

The  most  natural  way  of  increasing  plants  is  by  seeds; 
and  whenever  it  is  practicable  to  do  so,  it  is  preferable  to 
all  others,  so  that  in  our  own  practice,  any  plant  of  which 


PROPAGATION    OF    PLANTS.  83 

we  can  procure  the  seed,  we  rarely  increase  in  any  other 
way,  unless,  of  course,  in  cases  where  particular  varieties 
are  wanted  that  we  know  will  not  reproduce  themselves 
from  seed,  so  as  to  be  certain  of  color  or  form,  for  it  is 
believed  to  be  highly  probable  that  no  plant  ever  pro- 
duces identically  the  same  individual  from  seed.  The 
resemblance  may  be  so  close  that,  to  casual  observation, 
it  may  seem  identical;  but  reasoning  from  analogy,  it  is 
fair  to  presume  that  no  generated  organism  of  animal  or 
vegetable  life,  whether  from  the  lowest  molecule  to  the 
highest  type  of  existence,  is  ever  identical.  No  two 
human  beings  are  ever  identical  in  face  or  form;  and  even 
acquired  habits,  such  as  handwriting,  are  never  the  same. 

Some  species  of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  when  under 
domestication,  become  what  is  technically  termed  "  brok- 
en." Thus  we  find  the  pigeon,  when  domesticated,  run- 
ning into  a  great  variety  of  plumage,  while  its  prototypes 
of  the  woods  seem  to  be  all  alike;  but  it  is  fair  to  pre- 
sume they  each  possess  a  distinct  individuality,  though  less 
apparent  than  the  others.  So  it  is  in  plant  life  When 
we  sow  i.ooo  seeds  of  Verbenas  or  Coleus,  (species  that 
have  been  "broken,")  to  the  experienced  eye  no  two  ever 
are  exactly  the  same,  though  the  original  types  from  which 
they  sprung  will  seem  to  produce  varieties  identical;  but 
in  this  case  also  it  is  reasonable  to  presume  that  a  dis- 
tinct individuality  is  present,  though  the  distinction  is  so 
slight  that  ordinary  observation  fails  to  mark  it.  The 
eye  requires  to  be  educated  to  nice  distinctions  of  indi- 
viduality. Shepherds  in  charge  of  five  hundred  sheep 
can  often  individualize  every  member  of  the  flock,  which 
to  the  inexperienced  observer  seem  all  alike.  The  reader 
will  excuse  this  digression;  but  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
misconception  on  this  interesting  subject. 

In  all  cases  where  seed  taken  from  a  variety  or  species 


84  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

will  reproduce  itself  nearly  the  same,  as  in  special 
colors  of  Hollyhocks,  or  in  cases  where  a  general 
variety  is  wanted,  such  as  Verbenas  or  Petunias,  the 
propagation  by  seed  is  largely  practised.  As  propa- 
gation by  seeds  refers  more  usually  to  ornamental 
plants  cultivated  under  glass,  I  will  briefly  relate  cur 
own  practice,  which  we  have  greatly  improved  during 
the  past  few  years,  and  in  which  we  have  attained 
almost  unfailingly  satisfactory  results.  We  have  found 
that  seeds  sown  in  shallow  boxes,  from  one  and  a  half 
to  two  inches  deep,  can  be  given  a  far  more  uniform 
degree  of  moisture  than  when  sown  in  earthen  flower 
pots,  or  earthen  seed  pans  made  specially  for  that  pur- 
pose. These  boxes  are  made  from  the  ordinary  soap  box, 
from  four  to  five  being  made  from  each,  with  the  bottom 
boards  so  put  on  as  to  allow  free  escape  of  moisture, 
though,  of  course,  not  so  wide  apart  as  to  allow  the  soil 
to  wash  through.  These  boxes  are  filled  with  finely 
sifted  soil,  such  as  has  been  run  through  a  sieve  fine  as 
mosquito  netting.  This  surface  is  then  made  perfectly 
level  and  smooth,  and  the  seeds  sowed  on  it  as  evenly  as 
possible,  and  in  thickness  corresponding  to  the  variety 
sown,  though  it  must  be  here  remembered  that  in 
"  union  there  is  strength,"  and  that,  if  sown  too  thin,  weak 
seeds  may  fail  to  press  up  the  soil  if  isolated  too  much. 
After  the  seeds  are  sown,  and  before  they  are  covered, 
they  are  pressed  down  by  a  smooth  board  into  the  soil, 
so  that  the  surface  is  again  smooth  and  level. 

The  seed  box  is  now  ready  for  its  covering.  For 
several  years  past  we  have  used  finely-sifted  Moss 
(Sphagnum)  or  Cocoanut  fiber  exclusively  for  covering. 
To  prepare  these  materials  they  are  rubbed  through  a 
mosquito  wire  sieve  when  dry,  and  sifted  over  the  seed 
only  thick  enough  to  cover  it,  usually  about  one-sixteenth 


PROPAGATION   OF   PLANTS.  85 

part  of  an  inch.  In  the  absence  of  Moss  or  Cocoanut 
fiber,  dry  refuse  hops  or  leaves  will  answer,  prepared 
in  the  same  manner,  the  great  object  being  to  use 
a  material  light  in  weight,  having  non-conducting  proper- 
ties, and  that  will  thus  hold  the  moisture  uniformly.  Of 
all  these,  we  now  think  Cocoanut  fiber  the  best,  and  use 
nothing  else,  as  its  sponge-like  character  keeps  just  the 
right  degree  of  moisture  wanted. 

These  seed  boxes  should  be  placed  in  the  open 
sunlight,  in  the  windows  of  the  dwelling  room,  in 
the  hot-bed  or  green-house,  and  never  shaded,  in  a 
temperature  running  from  55°  to  65°  at  night,  with  10° 
higher  during  the  day;  and  if  a  proper  degree  of  moist- 
ure is  applied,  say  a  light  sprinkling  once  a  week,  if  there 
is  life  in  the  seed,  germination  is  certain.  As  soon  as 
the  seeds  have  grown  so  as  to  attain  the  first  true 
leaves,  (that  is,  the  first  leaves  that  show  after  the  seed- 
leaves,  j  they  must  be  "  pricked  off "  carefully  in  soft, 
light  soil,  similar  to  that  used  for  the  seeds,  at  from  one 
to  two  inches  apart,  according  to  the  kind.  This  will  not 
only  prevent  them  from  damping  off,  as  many  of  them 
are  very  apt  to  do,  but  they  will  be  much  stronger  and 
suffer  less  when  put  into  flower  pots  or  replanted  in  the 
open  ground.  We  prefer  to  replant  the  seedlings  in  the 
shallow  boxes  already  described.  And  here  we  again 
find,  that  if  the  soil  is  mixed  with  half  its  bulk  of  sifted 
Cocoanut  fiber  or  Sphagnum,  we  get  a  far  better  devel- 
opment of  fibrous  roots.  They  are  more  portable  if 
planted  in  boxes  than  if  planted  in  the  soil  of  the 
hot-bed,  or  bench  of  the  green-house,  though,  of  course, 
after  planting  in  the  boxes  these  are  put  again  in  the 
hot-bed  or  green-house.  After  the  seedlings  have  been 
planted  in  these  boxes,  lightly  water  them  and  shade  for 
two  or  three  days. 


S6  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

To  such  as  have  not  the  convenience  of  a  hot-bed  or 
green-house,  vegetable  or  flower  seeds  may  be  sown  in 
the  shallow  boxes  above  mentioned,  and  placed  in  the 
window  of  a  south  or  east  room,  where  the  thermometer 
does  not  average  less  than  70°.  Success  would  be  more 
complete,  however,  if  panes  of  glass  were  placed  over 
the  seeds,  resting  on  the  edge  of  the  box  an  inch  or  so 
from  the  soil.  This  would  prevent  evaporation,  and  ren- 
der watering  less  necessary,  and  hence  less  liability  to 
wash  up  the  seeds.  With  very  small  seeds  it  is  a  good 
plan  to  place  a  sheet  of  blotting-paper  over  the  boxes 
after  the  seeds  are  sown,  and  pour  the  water  on  the 
blotting-paper  until  it  soaks  through  sufficiently  to 
dampen  the  soil. 


ESSAY    ON    ROSE    GROWING.  87 


ESSAY 

ON 

ROSE   GROWING    IN   WINTER. 

BY    PETER    HENDERSON. 

(Read  before  the  New  York  Horticultural  Society  in  1881,  with  some 
additions  and  alterations  made  in  1883.) 


THE  intense  interest  now  so  generally  taken  in  the  cul- 
ture of  the  Rose,  not  only  for  outside  decoration,  but 
for  the  production  of  Rose  buds  in  winter,  has  induced 
me  to  attempt  a  detailed  account  of  the  methods  of  cul- 
tivation practised  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  City,  which 
is  believed  to  be  unequaled  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world,  particularly  in  the  methods  in  use  for  the  winter 
forcing  of  the  Rose.  For  this  purpose,  strong,  healthy 
cuttings  are  put  in  to  root  at  any  time  from  September 
to  January.  We  keep  the  sand  in  our  cutting  benches 
about  65  or  70  degrees  Fahr.,  with  the  temperature  of 
the  house  10  degrees  less.  Rose  cuttings,  under  these 
conditions,  will  root  in  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  days, 
and  are  then  potted  in  any  good  soil  in  two  and  a  half 
inch  pots,  and  placed  in  a  green-house  having  a  night 
temperature  of  about  55  degrees,  with  10  to  15  degrees 
more  in  the  daytime.  (See  article  on  Propagation  of 
Plants,  p.  75.) 

The  young  Roses  are  regularly  shifted  into  larger  pots 
as  soon  as  the  "  ball "  gets  filled  with  roots,  great  care 
being  taken  that  the  plants  at  no  time  get  pot  bound. 


88  GARDEN  AND  FARM  TOPICS. 

Syringing  i^  done  once  a  day  to  keep  down  red  spider, 
and  fumigating  by  burning  tobacco  stems  to  kill  the  Aphis 
or  Green  Fly  must  be  done  twice  a  week.  With  such 
attention,  plants  which  ware  put  in  as  cuttings  at  the 
season  named  above,  by  the  middle  of  July  will  be  from 
one  and  a  half  to  two  feet  in  height,- with  roots  enough 
to  fill  a  six-inch  pot.  They  should  at  this  date,  or  before, 
be  placed  out  of  doors,  and  stood  on  rough  gravel  or 
cinders,  so  as  to  make  certain  of  free  drainage. 

Now,  if  intended  to  be  grown  in  pots,  the  shifting  into 
larger  pots  should  be  repeated  whenever  the  ball  gets 
filled  with  roots,  (which  is  usually  in  about  five  or  six 
weeks  after  every  shift,)  until  the  ist  of  October,  when 
they  will  have  reached  a  size  requiring  a  pot  of  eight  or 
nine  inches  in  diameter.  These  pots  should  be  amply 
drained  with  broken  pots  or  charcoal,  using  soil  com- 
posed of  three  parts  decomposed  sod  from  a  good  loamy 
soil  to  one  of  well-rotted  cow  manure,  or  the  soil  here- 
after advised  for  benches  will  do  equally  well.  They  are 
then  in  condition  for  winter  forcing,  no  further  shifting 
being  required.  But  if  they  are  to  be  planted  out  on 
benches,  or  in  solid  best  of  soil,  the  planting  should  be 
made  from  the  pots  from  the  i5th  of  July  to  the  i5th  of 
August. 

SOLID  BEDS  AND  RAISED  BENCHES. 

There  is  quite  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether 
Roses  can  be  best  grown  in  solid  beds  or  on  raised 
benches.  We  believe  that  it  really  makes  but  little 
difference,  as  we  find  them  grown  with  nearly  equal 
success  by  both  methods  where  drainage  is  perfect, 
although  the  method  mainly  in  use  at  Madison,  N.  J., 
where,  at  present  writing,  Roses  are  probably  grown 


ESSAY   ON   ROSE   GROWING.  89 

better  than  anywhere  else  in  the  country,  is  the  raised 
bench  system.  The  green-houses  used  are  about  twenty 
feet  wide,  and  are  what  is  known  as  three-quarter  span  ; 
that  is,  three-quarters  of  the  glass  roof  slope  to  the 
south  at  an  angle  of  about  thirty  degrees,  while  the  other 
quarter  slopes  north  at  an  angle  of  twenty  degrees, 
(see  Fig.  5,  p.  103,)  giving  a  base  space  for  the  benches 
on  which  the  Roses  are  to  be  planted,  (taking  out  the 
walks,)  of  about  fifteen  feet.  The  benches  may  be  either 
a  level  platform,  or  divided  into  four  or  five  platforms 
about  three  feet  wide,  or  so  as  to  be  about  equal  distances 
from  the  glass ;  the  bottom  of  the  benches  may  be  from 
three,  four,  or  five  to  six  feet  from  the  glass,  as  desired. 
There  is  no  necessity  for  bottom  heat  for  Roses,  so  that 
it  is  best  to  have  the  pipes  for  heating  run  under  the 
front  and  back  benches  of  the  Rose  house,  with  none 
under  the  middle  benches. 

SOIL  AND  BENCHES. 

The  soil  in  which  the  Roses  are  to  be  grown  should  not 
be  more  than  five  inches  deep,  the  boards  being  so 
arranged  as  to  allow  free  drainage  for  the  water.  Per- 
haps the  best  way  to  make  the  bottom  of  the  bench  is  to 
use  wall  strips  or  other  boards,  not  to  exceed  six  inches 
wide,  leaving  a  space  of  at  least  half  an  inch  between  the 
boards  or  strips,  so  as  to  make  certain  of  perfect  drain- 
age. The  bottom  is  first  covered  with  thin  sods,  grass 
side  down,  and  then  the  soil  is  placed  on  to  the  depth  of 
five  inches.  This  soil  is  made  from  sods  cut  three  or  four 
inches  thick  from  any  good,  loamy  pasture  land,  well 
chopped  up,  and  mixed  with  about  one-thirtieth  of  their 
bulk  of  pure  broken  bones  and  bone  dust,  or  one-third 
of  well-rotted  cow  dung  to  two-thirds  of  sods,  as  may  be 


9o  GARDEN  AND  FARM  TOPICS. 

most  convenient.  In  our  own  practice  we  use  the  cow 
manure  in  preference  to  bone  dust.  It  is  perhaps  best  to 
let  the  sod  be  well-rotted  before  being  used,  although,  if 
this  be  not  convenient,  it  will  do  fresh,  if  well  chopped  up. 

DISTANCE  TO  PLANT. 

The  distance  for  Roses  such  as  I  describe,  (those 
that  have  been  grown  in  six-inch  pots,  and  averaging 
twenty  inches  high,)  should  be  one  foot  each  way,  so  as 
to  get  the  full  benefit  of  a  crop  by  January.  It  is  true 
that,  if  planted  twice  that  distance,  they  would  be  thick 
enough  before  spring;  but  they  would  not  fill  up  suffi- 
ciently until  the  middle  of  January,  if  planted  much  wider 
than  one  foot.  The  temperature  at  which  Roses  are 
grown  in  winter  is  an  average  of  55  to  60  degrees  at 
night,  with  10  to  15  degrees  higher  during  the  day. 

WATERING  AND  MULCHING. 

Watering  is  a  matter  of  the  first  importance,  and 
requires  some  experience  to  know  what  is  the  proper 
condition.  As  a  guide,  whenever  the  soil  shows  indica- 
tions of  being  dry  on  the  top,  a  thorough  watering  should 
be  given,  sufficient  to  completely  saturate  the  soil.  Such 
a  watering  will  not  usually  be  required  more  than  once 
in  two  weeks.  Syringing  may  be  done  once  a  day, 
sufficient  only  to  moisten  the  foliage,  and  often  this 
will  be  all  the  watering  the  Roses  require,  as  getting  the 
soil  too  wet  is  certain  to  destroy  the  crop.  Better  to  err 
on  the  side  of  dryness,  particularly  from  October  to 
March.  Whenever  there  are  indications  of  the  soil  being 
too  wet  stop  syringing,  but  keep  the  air  of  the  house 
moist  by  watering  the  paths.  Three  or  four  inches  of 


ESSAY    ON    ROSE    GROWING.  9! 

well-rotted  cow  manure  may  be  used  to  great  advantage 
as  a  mulch,  put  on  about  the  ist  of  September,  and  again 
about  March,  as  by  that  time  that  put  on  in  September 
will  have  become  exhausted.  Fumigating  with  tobacco 
smoke  for  the  suppression  of  the  Aphis,  (Green  Fly,) 
should  be  done  twice  a  week;  or,  what  will  answer  equally 
well,  a  mulch  of  two  or  three  inches  of  tobacco  stems  will 
keep  off  the  Green  Fly  for  five  or  six  weeks. 

VARIETIES  TO  FORCE. 

The  varieties  grown  are  changing  every  season,  and 
no  list  we  can  give  to-day  is  likely  to  remain  as  the  best 
ten  years  hence.  The  favorite  Tea  Roses  now  grown 
for  winter  are  Perle  des  Jardins,  (yellow,)  Niphetos, 
(white,)  Catherine  Mermet,  (rosy  pink,)  Souvenir  d'un 
Ami,  (delicate  peach  color,)  Cornelia  Cook,  (white,) 
Marshal  Robert,  (pale  yellow,)  Belle  Allemande,  (pink,) 
Bon  Silene,  (carmine,)  and  Andrew  Schwartz,  (violet  crim- 
son.) 

There  are  still  a  number  of  the  older  sorts,  such  as 
Safrano,  Douglas,  and  Isabella  Sprunt,  yet  grown;  but 
they  are  fast  giving  way  to  what  are  known  as  "  fancy  T' 
Roses,  of  which  the  yellow  variety,  Perle  des  Jardins,  is 
a  type.  A  new  sort,  named 

SUNSET, 

a  "sport"  from  Perle  des  Jardins,  has  just  been  orig- 
inated with  us.  It  is  identical  in  every  way  with  that 
famous  Rose,  except  that  its  color,  instead  of  being  a 
canary  yellow,  as  in  the  Perle  des  Jar  dins,  is  a  beautiful 
orange  shade  of  saffron,  often  seen  in  the  shading  of  our 
skies  at  sunset.  For  this  reason  I  have  given  it  the 


92  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS.  s 

descriptive  name  of  "Sunset."  Whether  for  forcing  in 
winter  or  for  out-door  in  summer,  "  Sunset "  will  prove 
to  be  one  of  the  most  valuable  Roses  ever  introduced. 
Of  Climbing  Roses,  which  are  grown  on  the  rafters 


NEW  TEA  ROSE   "  SUNSET." 

of  the  green-house,  Marshal  Niel,  (yellow,)  Lamarque, 
(white,)  James  Sprung  (crimson,)  Gloire  de  Dijon,  (salmon 
rose,)  and  Red  Gloire  de  Dijon,  (carmine,)  are  the  best. 

Another  class  of  Roses,  the  Hybrid  Perpetuals,  par- 
ticularly the  variety  known  as  General  Jacqueminot,  are 
now  grown  in  immense  quantities.  These,  we  think,  may 
soon  be  supplanted  by  a  newer  class,  known  as  "  Hybrid 


ESSAY    ON    ROSE    GROWING.  93 

Teas,"  of  which  Duchess  of  Edinburgh,  (bright  crimson,) 
La  France,  (light  pink,)  Duke  of  Connaught,  (crimson 
scarlet,)  Duchess  of  Connaught,  (deep  carmine,)  Coquette 
des  Alpes,  (white,)  Her  Majesty,  (blush,)  and  Wm.  Henry 
Bennett,  (crimson,)  are  at  present  types.  These  require 
an  entirely  different  treatment  from  the  Tea  Roses  proper, 
as  they  are  not  strictly  evergreens,  but  partly  drop  their 
leaves  in  the  fall;  and  hence,  like  all  deciduous  plants, 
require  a  rest  of  at  least  two  months,  either  by  drying  or 
by  a  low  temperature,  before  they  can  be  forced  into 
flower,  so  as  to  produce  the  best  results. 

FORCING  HYBRID  PERPETUALS  AND  HYBRID  TEAS. 

To  get  the  Hybrid  Perpetual  and  the  Hybrid  Tea 
classes  early,  (say  during  January,)  requires  special  skill 
and  care,  but  well  repays  the  trouble,  as  this  class  of  Roses 
now  bring  an  average  of  $50  per  hundred  buds  at  wholesale 
from  the  i5th  of  December  to  January  i5th.  The  method 
found  to  be  necessary  is  to  grow  these  Roses  on  in  pots, 
exactly  as  recommended  for  the  evergreen  or  Tea  Roses, 
except  that,  as  they  have  a  tendency  to  grow  tall,  the 
center  should  be  pinched  out  of  the  leading  shoots,  so 
that  from  five  to  six  shoots  run  up,  and  thus  not  only 
make  the  plant  bushy,  but,  what  is  of  more  importance, 
these  slimmer  shoots  are  less  pithy  and  ripen  off  harder, 
thus  insuring  with  more  certainty  a  greater  production  of 
buds. 

The  plants,  if  started  from  cuttings  any  time  from  Sep- 
tember to  January,  which  is  the  season  we  prefer  to  root 
them  in,  will,  if  properly  grown,  by  August  ist,  (or  at 
less  than  one  year  old,)  have  filled  a  seven  or  eight  inch 
pot  with  roots.  Now  is  the  critical  point.  The  plants 
must  be  ripened  off  and  rested,  if  a  crop  of  buds  is 


94  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

wanted  by  January  and  February;  so,  to  do  this  at  a 
season  as  early  as  the  ist  of  August,  the  plants  must  be 
gradually  dried  off  sufficiently  to  make  them  drop  their 
leaves,  though  not  to  so  violently  wilt  them  as  to  shrivel 
the  shoots.  A  rest  of  two  months  is  necessary,  so  that 
the  plants  begun  to  be  dried  off  by  the  ist  of  August  may 
be  started  slowly  by  the  ist  of  October,  and  those  begun 
to  be  dried  off  by  the  ist  of  September  may  be  started, 
also  at  as  low  a  temperature  as  possible,  by  the  ist  of 
November.  These,  like  the  Monthly  Roses,  are  best 
ripened  off  by  placing  them  in  the  open  air;  though,  if 
continued  wet  weather  occur  when  they  are  thus  placed 
to  dry  and  ripen  their  wood,  the  pots  must  be  placed  on 
their  sides,  or  some  arrangement  contrived  to  keep  them 
from  getting  wet,  otherwise  the  rest  absolutely  necessary 
for  early  forcing  cannot  be  obtained. 

When  the  forcing  of  General  Jacqueminot  or  other 
Hybrid  Perpetual  Roses  is  successful,  it  is  very  profitable. 
Why  it  is  profitable  is  from  the  fact  of  unusual  care  and 
skill  being  required  to  have  the  plants  in  the  proper  con- 
dition. We  may  here  state  that  many  failures  have  re- 
sulted from  the  attempt  to  grow  the  Hybrid  Tea  Roses 
without  resting,  notably  the  Duchess  of  Edinburgh,  which 
was  sent  out  from  England  some  five  or  six  years  ago  as  a 
"Crimson  Tea."  The  misleading  name  of  "Tea  '  in- 
duced hundreds  of  florists  to  attempt  its  growth  under 
the  same  conditions  as  the  Safrano  or  Bon  Silene  class, 
and  the  consequence  was  in  every  case  almost  complete 
failure.  This  type  evidently  partakes  more  of  the  Hybrid 
Perpetual  than  of  the  Tea  class,  and  as  they  are  hardy 
and  deciduous,  refuse  to  blossom  in  midwinter,  unless 
given  the  rest  that  their  nature  demands. 


ESSAY  ON  ROSE  GROWING.  95 

MILDEW. 

Roses,  when  grown  under  glass,  with  proper  attention 
to  temperature  and  moisture,  are  not  usually  attacked  by 
mildew ;  but  as  a  preventive  it  is  well  to  paint  the  hot- 
water  pipes  once  every  two  or  three  weeks  with  a  .mixture 
of  sulphur  and  lime  or  sulphur  and  guano,  made  of  the 
consistency  of  whitewash,  (the  guano  or  lime  is  merely  to 
make  the  sulphur  stick  better  to  the  pipes.)  The  fumes 
of  sulphur,  as  diffused  by  the  heated  pipes,  is  a  never- 
failing  means  of  destroying  the  germs  of  mildew  or  any 
other  fungoid  growth,  and  also  holds  in  check,  to  some 
extent,  the  Red  Spider  insect,  often  so  troublesome  to 
the  Rose. 

ROSE  BUG. 

For  the  Rose  Bug,  so  destructive  to  success  in  Rose 
growing  under  glass,  there  seems  no  remedy  except  the 
slow  and  unsatisfactory  one  of  catching  and  killing  the 
insect  as  soon  as  it  is  seen  on  the  leaves.  It  is  not  easily 
observed,  as  it  gets  under  the  leaves  and  close  to  the 
shoots  of  the  plants.  Its  presence  is  known  by  the  bitten 
leaves  showing  where  it  is  feeding;  but  even  with  the 
greatest  diligence  enough  will  usually  escape  to  deposit 
their  eggs  in  the  soil^  which,  when  hatched  out  to  the 
grub  or  pupa  state,  rapidly  begin  the  work  of  destruction 
by  feeding  on  the  roots.  In  this  stage,  all  attempts  to 
destroy  them  have  thus  far,  I  believe,  failed. 

The  only  safety,  when  the  Rose  Bug  is  known  to  be 
present  in  sufficient  numbers  to  injure,  is  to  throw  out 
the  plants  and  start  with  young  ones.  I  have,  for  three 
years  past,  adopted  the  plan  of  growing  the  plants 
only  one  year  old  from  cuttings  rooted  during  the  fall  or 
winter  months,  and  have  since  then  had  no  trouble  what- 


96  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

ever  from  the  ravages  of  this  insect.  I  know,  of  course, 
that  there  are  many  Rose  houses  that  are  even  nine  to 
ten  years  old,  that  never  fail  to  produce  abundant  crops, 
particularly  such  as  Marshal  Niel  and  other  climbers ; 
but  in  such  cases  it  seems  to  be  that  the  Roses  planted 
either  had  escaped  the  visitation  of  the  Rose  Bug  alto- 
gether, or  had  got  so  deeply  and  strongly  rooted  before 
being  attacked  that  the  grub  could  not  injure  the  plants. 

SHADING  THE  HOUSE. 

There  is  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  propriety 
of  shading  Rose  houses  during  the  hot  summer  months. 
I  believe  that  a  slight  shading  is  beneficial  from  May 
to  September,  and  for  that  purpose  use  naphtha,  mixed 
with  a  little  white  lead,  just  enough  to  give  it  the  appear- 
ance of  thin  milk.  This  is  thrown  on  the  outside  of  the 
glass  with  a  syringe.  It  costs  only  about  twenty-five 
cents  for  every  thousand  square  feet.  This  shading  is 
the  best  I  have  ever  used.  It  is  just  enough  to  take 
the  glare  of  the  sunlight  off,  without  much  lessening  the 
light ;  and  though  it  will  hold  on  tenaciously  during  the 
summer,  it  is  easily  rubbed  off  in  the  fall  after  the  first 
frost. 

GARDEN  CULTURE  OF  THE  ROSE. 

But  little  need  be  said  on  this  branch  of  the  subject, 
all  that  is  wanted  being  a  deep,  rich  soil,  in  an  unshaded 
position.  For  the  dry  climate  of  the  United  States,  a 
class  of  Roses  should  be  grown  very  different  from  those 
grown  in  England.  There  the  "Remontants,"  or  "Hy- 
brid Perpetuals,"  in  the  humid  atmosphere  that  prevails, 
with  few  exceptions  flower  nearly  as  freely  as  the 
"Monthly"  Roses  do  here;  but  with  us,  experience  has 


ESSAY    ON    ROSE    GROWING.  97 

shown  that,  after  the  first  bloom  in  June,  no  full  crop  of 
flowers  is  again  obtained,  unless  with  the  comparatively 
new  class  known  as  the  Hybrid  Teas,  of  which  u  La 
France"  and  "Duchess  of  Edinburgh"  are  types;  so 
that,  when  a  continued  bloom  of  Roses  is  desired  during 
the  entire  summer  and  fall  months,  the  class  known  as 
monthly  (embracing  Tea,  Bourbon,  Bengal,  Noisette,  and 
Hybrid  Tea)  are  the  best.  True,  these  varieties,  except 
the  "  Hybrid  Teas,"  are  not  usually  hardy,  unless  in  that 
portion  of  the  country  where  the  thermometer  never 
gets  20°  below  the  freezing  point ;  but  they  can 
be  saved  through  the  winter  in  almost  any  section, 
if  pegged  down  and  covered  up  with  five  or  six 
inches  of  leaves  or  rough  litter.  This  covering,  how- 
ever, should  not  be  done  until  quite  hard  frost  comes; 
in  the  locality  of  New  York,  about  the  first  week  in 
December.  If  done  sooner,  there  is  danger,  if  the  season 
is  mild,  (as  it  usually  is  here  until  December  ist),  that 
the  shoots  may  be  smothered  and  decay  by  a  too  early 
covering.  This  same  rule  I  adopt  in  covering  Grape 
Vines,  Clematis,  Raspberries,  Strawberries,  or,  in  fact, 
any  other  plant  or  shrub  that  I  believe  to  be  benefited 
by  winter  protection,  as  I  have  never  yet  seen  injury 
done  to  half-hardy  plants  by  frost  previous  to  that  date. 
In  this  matter  of  covering,  the  amateur  in  gardening 
often  errs ;  first,  from  his  anxiety  to  protect  his  plants 
before  there  is  danger  in  the  fall ;  and  next,  in  his  en- 
thusiasm in  spring,  he  is  deceived  by  some  warm  day  in 
March  to  uncover  what  is  not  safe  until  April. 

ROSE  BUDS  IN  SUMMER. 

The  great  want  of  fine  Rose  buds  during  the  summer 
months  induced  me,  last  season,  to  adopt  a  method  that 


98  GARDEN    AND   FARM    TOPICS. 

promises  great  success.  In  August  strong  plants  were 
set  out  in  cold  frames,  (such  as  are  used  for  keeping 
Cabbage,  Pansies,  or  other  half-hardy  plants,)  at  a  dis- 
tance of  one  foot  each  way.  On  the  approach  of  cold 
weather  in  November  they  were  mulched  with  two  or 
three  inches  of  dry  leaves,  and  by  the  time  the  thermome- 
ter began  to  fall  to  10°  or  15°  below  the  freezing  point, 
the  sashes  were  put  on,  care  being  taken  to  give  ventila- 
tion, so  as  to  keep  them  cool.  They  thus  become  hard- 
ened enough  to  go  safely  through  the  winter.  By  the 
middle  of  April  the  sashes  may  be  left  entirely  off, 
provided  care  has  been  taken  to  keep  them  cool  through- 
out the  winter.  Roses  being  thus  "rested,"  (which 
is  the  great  necessity  for  the  best  results  in  Rose 
culture,)  an  abundant  crop  of  buds  may  be  expected 
from  June  to  October,  provided  that  proper  attention  has 
been  given  to  watering  and  mulching  with  well-rotted 
stable  manure,  or  moss  and  bone  dust.  This  mulching 
should  take  the  place  of  the  dry  leaves  (which  were  placed 
on  in  the  fall)  about  the  latter  end  of  May  or  first  of  June. 
The  Roses  to  be  used  for  summer  buds  must  be  all 
full,  double  flowers,  else  they  will  quickly  fall  to  pieces  in 
hot  weather.  Such  kinds  as  Safrano,  Bon  Silene,  and 
Douglas,  are  of  no  use  for  this  purpose.  The  kinds  we 
have  used  are  as  follows:  Perle  des  Jar  dins,  (yellow,) 
Cornelia  Cook,  (white,)  La  France,  (light  rose,)  Coquette  des 
Alpes,  (pure  white,)  Madame  Welch,  (blush,)  Duchess  of  Ed- 
inburgh, (crimson,)  Malmaison,  (deep  blush,)  Catherine 
Mermet,  (rosy  pink,)  Letty  Coles,  (carmine  and  blush,) 
Devoniensis,  (deep  blush,)  and  Sunset,  (the  new  orange 
saffron  variety,)  all  of  which,  under  proper  conditions, 
will  give  perfect  flowers  in  the  hottest  weather. 


^  < 

GREEN-HOUSE    STRUCTURES. 


GREEN-HOUSE   STRUCTURES, 


MODES  OF  HEATING. 


THE  construction  of  green-houses  is  now  a  matter  of 
much  interest  to  a  large  portion  of  the  community. 
I  have  many  applications  every  season  from  florists, 
private  gentlemen,  and  market  gardeners,  asking  me 
which  is  the  best  way  to  build  this  and  that  kind  of  a 
green-house.  I  find  it  practically  impossible  to  intel- 
ligently reply  to  all  these  inquiries  by  letter,  and  have  for 
this  reason  written  this  article,  giving  such  information 


FIGURE  1.    (Scale  ^  of  an  inch  to  the  foot.) 


as   I  possess   on  the  most  approved   methods  of   con- 
struction and  heating  up  to  the  present  time. 

When  a  green-house  of  any  large  extent  for  private 
use  is  to  be  constructed,  involving  an  amount  of,  say 
$5,000  and  upward,  I  always  recommend  it  to  be  the 
cheapest  plan  to  get  the  advice  of  a  professional  green- 


too 


GARDEN  AND  FARM  TOPICS. 


house  architect  on  the  subject;  but  as  a  great  many 
parties  wish  to  build  only  small  green-houses  for  private 
purposes,  doubtless  to  such  my  experience  may  be  of 
interest  and  value.  The  scale  used  in  all  the  plans 
throughout  is  one-eighth  of  an  inch  to  the  foot. 

For  a  small  green-house,  that  shown  by  Figure  i, 
having  a  cuivilinear  roof,  is  a  convenient  and  desirable 
form,  the  dimensions  being  20  feet  wide  by  50  feet 


FIGURE  2.    (Scale  ^  of  an  inch  to  the  foot  ) 


long.  Figure  i  is  the  end  elevation.  Figure  2  is  a  sec- 
tion, showing  the  inside  view  of  walk,  benches,  and  heat- 
ing-pipes. 

It  is  often  desirable  to  attach  a  green-house  or  con- 
servatory to  the  dwelling-house.  That  shown  by  Figure 
3  has  a  width  of  12  feet,  though,  of  course,  the  width  or 
length  is  a  matter  of  taste  or  convenience.  If  the  green- 
house is  wanted  for  commercial  use,  what  the  particular 


GREEN-HOUSE    STRUCTURES. 


101 


use  is  must  be  determined  before  beginning  to  build.    If 
for  the  general  purpose  of  growing  bedding  plants,  then 


FIGURE  3.    (Scale  l/&  of  an  inch  to  the  foot.) 


nothing,  we  think,  is  better  than  the  style  of  houses  we 
ourselves  use,  (Figure  4,)  which  average  20  feet  in  width, 
and  are  of  a  uniform  length  of  100  feet.  Of  course  the 
length  is  a  matter  of  convenience,  but  the  width  we  find 
is  an  important  point  to  consider  ;  for  if  over  20  feet  the 
benches  are  too  wide  to  reach  easily,  and  if  under  20 
feet  room  is  lost  by  the  necessity  of  having  two  walks  in 
a  narrow  space.  Figure  4  shows  the  inside  arrange- 
ment of  this  style  of  green-house  as  we  have  it  in  use. 
One  section  shows  a  bench  in  the  middle,  the  other  a 
solid  bed  of  soil.  The  scale  (one-eighth  of  an  inch  to 
the  foot)  will  give  the  height  of  the  wall,  benches,  etc. 

These  green-houses  are  joined  together  on  the  ridge 
and  furrow  plan,  having  one  ^lope  to  the  west  and  the 
other  slope  to  the  east  ;  but  if  wanted  for  the  purpose  of 


102 


GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


growing  rose-buds  in  winter, 
or,  in  short,  for  almost  any 
kind  of  plants  grown  for 
the  flowers  during  the  winter 
months,  this  style  of  green- 
house (that  shown  by  Figure 
4)  is  not  suited,  as  it  is  found 
that,  when  joined  on  the 
ridge  and  furrow  plan,  there 
is  too  much  shadow,  and  the 
necessary  light  required  for 
the  best  development  of 
flowers  in  winter  is  not  ad- 
mitted, so  that  I  now  find 
that  for  all  kinds  of  flowering 
plants,  Roses  particularly, 
the  green-house  structure 
should  stand  alone,  and  be 
of  the  style  known  as  the 
three-quarter  span ;  that  is, 
having  an  angle  of  about 
32  degrees  to  the  horizon  to 
the  south,  and  an  angle  of  36 
or  38  degrees  to  the  north, 
as  shown  by  Figure  5,  which 
is  on  the  same  scale. 

For  the  same  reason,  (the 
necessity  of  sunlight  in  win- 
ter,) the  wood  work  should 
be  made  as  light  as  possi- 
ble consistent  with  strength, 
and  for  this  purpose  I 
prefer  to  use  well-seasoned 
yellow  pine,  as  it  has  more 


GREEN-HOUSE    STRUCTURES. 


103 


strength,  in  proportion  to  bulk,  than  white  pine.  It  is 
also  necessary  to  use  glass  not  less  than  10  x  12,  put  in  the 
12  way.  This  style  of  green-house  is  now  preferred 
for  forcing  Lettuce,  Strawberries,  and  other  fruits  and 


FIGURE  5.    (Scale  ^  of  an  inch  to  the  foot.) 


vegetables  in  winter,  as  well  as  flowering  plants,  as  they 
too  require  all  the  light  that  it  is  possible  to  obtain. 

Although  this  style  of  green-house  would  also  shade, 
if  joined  together  on  the  ridge  and  furrow  plan,  when 
built  on  level  ground,  yet,  whenever  a  convenient  loca- 
tion can  be  had,  where  the  ground  slopes  to  the  south  at 
an  angle  of  10  or  15  degrees,  they  maybe  joined  together 
as  seen  in  Figure  6,  (one-eighth  of  an  inch  to  the  foot 
scale,)  which  shows  a  slope  or  angle  of  15  degrees. 

It  will  be  noticed  in  this  design  (Figure  6)  that  the 
larger  number  of  pipes  are  placed  under  the  front  bench, 
there  being  four  there,  while  there  are  only  two  under 
the  back  bench.  The  slope  of  the  ground  makes  this  ar- 
rangement necessary  in  order  to  secure  an  equal  distribu- 
tion of  heat.  With  the  ordinary  arrangement  of  pipes, 
(half  under  each  bench,)  the  back  of  the  house  would 
always  be  much  the  warmest,  as  a  moment's  reflection 


104 


GREEN-HOUSE    STRUCTURES.  105 

will  make  manifest.  The  position  of  the  ventilators  near 
the  ridge  is  distinctly  marked  in  this  and  all  the  other 
figures,  the  dotted  lines  showing  a  ventilator  raised  or 
open.  The  position  of  the  benches  is  also  shown. 
Through  the  middle  there  may  be  either  a  bench  or  a 
solid  bed  of  earth.  By  use  of  the  scale  (one  eighth  of  an 
inch  to  the  foot)  the  proportions  of  the  details  of  this 
house  may  be  readily  obtained. 

The  construction  of  green- houses  for  private  purposes 
is  often  very  costly  and  elaborate,  the  foundation  being 
formed  of  concrete,  stone,  or  brick  ;  but  after  the  wall 
has  risen  to  the  surface  of  the  ground,  it  is  found  that, 
unless  the  wall  of  stone  or  brick  is  very  thick  indeed,  the 
high  temperature  and  moisture  inside  of  a  green-house 
soon  injures  the  mason  work  by  warring  with  the  low 
temperature  outside,  particularly  on  the  north  or  north- 
west side.  For  this  reason  it  has  been  found  that  wood- 
en walls,  for  ordinary  purposes,  are  equally  as  good  as 
an  eight-inch  brick  wall  for  resisting  cold,  far  cheaper, 
and  more  durable. 

A  common  error  with  the  inexperienced  is  to  build  the 
wooden  wall  of  a  green-house  hollow,  filling  up  the  space 
with  sawdust,  or  some  such  non-conducting  material. 
The  method  found  best  is  to  sink  locust,  cedar,  or  chest- 
nut posts  to  the  required  depth,  and  at  distances  of  four 
or  six  feet  apart ;  against  these  (outside)  nail  common 
rough  boards  ;  then  against  these  tack  asphalt  or  tarred 
paper,  and  against  that  nail  the  ordinary  weather  board- 
ing. Such  a  wall  will  resist  cold  better  than  an  eight- 
inch  brick  wall,  and  will  last  for  twenty  years  if  kept 
painted.  If  a  better  finish  is  desired  inside,  the  posts 
can  be  hid  by  weather  boarding  ;  but  nothing  should  be 
put  in  to  fill  the  space.  When  the  walls  have  been  fin- 
ished to  the  required  height,  the  wall  plate  to  secure  the 


106  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

rafters  is  laid  on.  Supporting  posts  should  be  placed 
under  the  ridge  pole,  and  also  near  the  middle  of  the 
rafters,  where  these  are  very  long,  as  is  the  case  in  many 
of  the  three-quarter  span  houses. 

GLASS  AND  GLAZING. 

If  for  winter  forcing  of  either  fruit  or  flowers,  the  glass 
should  (as  we  have  before  said)  be  not  less  than  10  x  12  in 
size,  and  laid  in  the  12  way.  It  should  be  of  what  is 
known  as  second  quality  French,  and  it  is  economy  al- 
ways to  use  the  double  thick.  All  panes  should  be  re- 
jected having  flaws  or  lenses,  else  these  will  form  a  focus 
for  the  sun's  rays  and  burn  the  leaves  of  the  plants  ;  but 
even  with  the  greatest  care,  some  flaws  will  usually  re- 
main, and  less  or  more  burn  the  leaves  after  the  sun 
becomes  strong,  to  counteract  which  a  slight  shading  had 
better  be  used  on  the  glass  from  April  to  September. 
We  use  naphtha,  with  just  enough  white  lead  mixed  in  it 
to  give  it  the  appearance  of  thin  milk.  This  we  put  on 
with  a  syringe,  which  sufficiently  covers  up  all  flaws  in 
the  glass  to  prevent  burning,  and  at  the  same  time  tends 
to  cool  the  house  from  the  violence  of  the  sun's  rays. 
This  is  by  far  the  cheapest  and  best  shading  we  have 
ever  used.  It  can  be  gradated  to  any  degree  of  thick- 
ness, and  costs  only  about  25  cents  per  1,000  square  feet 
of  glass,  for  material  and  labor. 

In  glazing,  the  method  now  almost  universally  adopted 
is  to  bed  the  glass  in  putty,  and  tack  it  on  top  with 
glazier's  points,  using  no  putty  on  the  top.  The  glazier's 
points  are  triangular,  one  corner  of  which  is  turned  down, 
so  that  when  it  is  driven  in,  it  fits  the  lower  edge  of 
each  pane  and  prevents  it  from  slipping  down.  A  great 
mistake  is  often  made  in  giving  the  glass  too  much  lap ; 


GREEN-HOUSE    STRUCTURES.  107 

it  should  only  be  given  just  enough  to  cover  the  edge  of 
the  pane,  (from  one-eighth  to  one-fourth  of  an  inch.)  If 
given  too  much,  the  water  gets  in,  and  when  it  freezes  it 
cracks  the  glass. 

GROUND  GLASS. 

The  use.  of  ground  glass  is  gradually  becoming  greater 
every  season.  I  confess  to  having  had  a  prejudice  against 
it,  thinking  that  it  obscured  the  sun's  rays  too  much,  and 
was  apprehensive  that,  for  that  reason,  it  would  not  be 
so  well  suited  for  plants  in  winter  ;  but  from  an  examina- 
tion last  season  of  a  large  lot  of  green-houses  glazed  with 
such  glass,  and  used  for  various  purposes,  I  am  convinced 
that  it  obscures  the  light  only  in  a  very  small  degree,  if  at 
all ;  for  in  the  green-houses  referred  to,  plants  of  all  de- 
scriptions, both  for  foliage  and  for  fruit,  as  well  as  for 
producing  flowers  in  winter,  were  under  culture,  and  they 
could  not  have  been  in  better  condition  than  they  were. 
The  advantage  of  the  ground  glass  is,  that  it  entirely 
prevents  the  burning  of  the  foliage,  which  is  a  source  of 
great  annoyance  in  the  cultivation  of  plants  and  fruits. 
I  am  so  convinced  of  the  utility  of  it,  that  whenever  I 
again  construct  more  green-houses  for  my  own  use  I 
shall  use  it.  It  costs  but  little  more  than  the  glass  in 
common  use,  and  must  be  a  great  saving,  as  it  does 
away  with  the  necessity  for  shading  during  the  summer 
months,  shading  being  mainly  used  to  prevent  the  burn- 
ing or  blistering  of  the  leaves. 

HEATING  BY  HOT  WATER. 

The  mode  of  heating  in  general  use  is  by  hot  water, 
though  many  beginners  with  limited  means  still  use  smoke 


I08  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

flues.  In  heating  by  hot  water  it  is  important  that  the 
work  be  given  to  some  reputable  firm,  whose  knowledge 
is  such  as  will  enable  them  not  only  to  judge  what  is  the 
proper  capacity  of  the  boiler  for  the  number  of  pipes  to 
be  used,  but  also  how  many  pipes  are  necessary  to  be 
used  for  the  surface  of  glass  to  be  heated.  Men  who 
have  done  a  large  business  in  heating  green-houses  have 
far  better  opportunities  for  knowledge  in  this  matter  than 
the  average  gardener  or  florist ;  and  if  those  erecting 
green-houses  have  not  had  extensive  and  varied  practice, 
they  had  better  be  guided  by  the  men  who  make  a  busi- 
ness of  heating,  as  the  want  of  the  requisite  knowledge 
of  these  matters  often  works  serioys  mischief.  Of  course, 
the  size  of  the  green-house  or  green-houses  to  be  heated 
must  determine  the  capacity  of  the  boiler  wanted  ;  but 
the  boiler  being  properly  apportioned  to  the  length  of 
pipe,  the  following  data,  used  in  our  own  establishment, 
may  be  useful.  In  our  houses,  which  are  20  feet  wide 
and  100  feet  long,  when  a  night  temperature  of  70°  is 
required  in  the  coldest  weather,  ten  runs  or  rows  of  four- 
inch  pipe,  five  on  each  side  ;  when  60°  are  wanted,  eight 
runs  of  pipe,  four  on  each  side  ;  when  50°  are  wanted, 
six  runs  of  pipe  ;  and  when  only  35°  or  40°  are  wanted, 
four  runs  of  pipe.  This  is  for  the  latitude  of  New  York 
city,  where  the  temperature  rarely  falls  lower  than  10° 
below  zero.  Latitudes  north  or  south  of  New  York 
should  be  graded  accordingly.  If  estimated  by  glass 
surface,  about  one  foot  in  length  of  four-inch  pipe  is  ne- 
cessary for  every  three  and  a  half  square  feet  of  glass  sur- 
face, when  the  temperature  is  at  10°  below  zero,  to  keep 
a  temperature  of  50°  in  the  green-house.  We  now  place 
all  our  pipes  under  the  side  benches,  as  that  enables  us 
to  use  the  space  under  the  middle  for  stowing  away  many 
plants  safely,  which  otherwise  could  not  be  done  if  the 


GREEN-HOUSE    STRUCTURES.  log 

pipes  were  there.  There  are  scores  of  kinds  of  hot-water 
boilers  in  use,  and  our  opinion  is  repeatedly  asked  as  to 
the  relative  merits  of  many  of  them.  This  can  only  be 
determined  by  a  comparative  test,  which  we  have  never 
had  time  or  inclination  to  try.  We  have  used  the  boilers 
made  by  Hitchings  &  Co.  for  the  past  twenty  years  with 
the  most  satisfactory  results.  There  may  be  better,  but 
we  do  not  know  it,  and  do  not  care  to  take  the  risk  of 
experimenting. 

HEATING  BY  FLUES. 

For  beginners  with  small  means,  when  personal  atten- 
tion can  be  given  to  the  fires,  by  heating  green-houses 
with  flues  a  great  saving  in  cost  can  be  made ;  in  fact, 
nearly  half  the  cost  of  construction  ;  for  we  find  that  the 
hot-water  heating  apparatus  usually  is  half  the  cost  of 
ordinary  commercial  green-houses,  while  if  heated  by 
flues  the  cost  would  not  be  more  than  ten  per  cent,  of 
the  whole.  A  new  method  of  constructing  flues,  (or 
rather  a  revived  method,  for  it  originated  in  1822,)  has 
been  in  use  for  the  past  few  years,  which  has  such  mani- 
fest advantages  that  many  now  use  it  who  would  no  doubt 
otherwise  have  used  hot-water  heating.  Its  peculiarity 
consists  in  running  the  flue  back  to  the  furnace  from 
which  it  starts  and  into  the  chimney,  which  is  built  on  the 
top  of  the  furnace.  As  soon  as  the  fire  is  lighted  in  the 
furnace,  the  brick-work  forming  the  arch  gets  heated, 
and  at  once  starts  an  upward  draft,  driving  out  the  cold 
air  from  the  chimney,  which  puts  the  smoke  flue  into 
immediate  action  and  maintains  it ;  hence  there  is  never 
any  trouble  about  the  draft,  as  in  ordinary  flues  having 
the  chimney  at  the  most  distant  point  from  the  furnace. 

By  this  plan  we  not  only  get  rid  of  the  violent  heat 
given  out  by  the  furnace,  but  at  the  same  time  it  insures 


110 


GREEN-HOUSE   STRUCTURES.  Ill 

a  complete  draft,  so  that  the  heated  air  from  the  furnace 
is  so  rapidly  carried  through  the  entire  length  of  the  flue, 
that  it  is  nearly  as  hot  when  it  enters  the  chimney  as 
when  it  left  the  furnace.  This  perfect  draft  also  does 
away  with  all  danger  of  the  escape  of  gas  from  the  flues 
into  the  green-house,  which  often  happens  when  the 
draft  is  not  active.  Although  no  system  of  heating  by 
smoke  flues  is  so  satisfactory  as  by  hot  water,  yet  there 
are  hundreds  who  have  neither  the  means  nor  the  inclina- 
tion to  go  to  the  greater  expense  of  hot-water  heating, 
and  to  such  this  revived  method  is  one  that  will,  to  a 
great  extent,  simplify  and  cheapen  the  erection  of  green- 
houses. Many  old-established  florists,  who  have  had  the 
old  plan  of  flues  in  use,  have  changed  them  to  the  one 
here  described,  and  with  great  satisfaction.  The  wonder 
is  that  such  an  important  fact  has  been  so  long  over- 
looked, for  at  the  time  it  was  discovered  heating  green- 
houses by  flues  was  almost  the  only  method  in  use. 

Figure  7  (one-eighth  of  an  inch  to  the  foot  scale) 
shows  a  green-house  20  feet  wide  by  50  feet  long,  with 
furnace  room,  or  shed,  10x20  feet.  Here  the  flues  are 
so  disposed  as  to  avoid  crossing  the  walks,  being  placed 
under  the  center  bench,  but  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
walk  on  each  side,  so  that  the  heat  may  be  evenly  dif- 
fused throughout.  If  a  difference  in  temperature  is  re- 
quired in  a  house  of  this  kind,  it  may  be  obtained  by 
running  a  glass  partition  across  the  house,  say  at  25  feet 
from  the  furnace  end,  which  will,  of  course,  make  the  latter 
end  the  hottest.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  plan  (Figure 
7)  shows  by  dotted  lines  this  new  or  revived  plan  of  flue 
heating.  Figure  8  (the  same  scale)  is  a  section,  showing 
the  arrangement  of  the  benches,  etc. 

In  constructing  the  furnace  for  flue  heating,  the  size 
of  the  furnace  doors  should  be,  for  a  green-house  20  x  50, 


112 


GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


about  14  inches  square,  and  the  length  of  the  furnace 
bars  30  inches ;  the  furnace  should  be  arched  over,  and 
the  top  of  the  inside  of  the  arch  should  be  about  20 
inches  from  the  bars.  The  flue  will  always  "  draw " 
better  if  slightly  on  the  ascent  throughout  its  entire 


FIGURE  8.    (Scale  J^  of  an  inch  to  the  foot.) 

length.  It  shou/d  be  elevated  in  all  cases  from  the 
ground,  on  flags  or  bricks,  so  that  its  heat  may  be  given 
out  on  all  sides.  The  inside  measure  of  the  brick  flue 
should  not  be  less  than  8x14  inches.  If  tiles  can  be 
conveniently  procured,  they  are  best  to  cover  with  ;  but, 
if  not,  the  top  of  the  flue  maybe  contracted  to  six  inches, 
and  covered  with  bricks. 

After  the  flue  has  been  built  of  brick  to  twenty-five 
or  thirty  feet  from  the  furnace,  cement  or  vitrified  drain 
pipe,  eight  or  nine  inches  in  diameter,  should  be  used,  as 
they  are  not  only  cheaper,  but  radiate  the  heat  quicker 
than  the  bricks ;  they  are  also  much  easier  constructed 
and  cleaned.  Care  should  be  taken  that  no  woodwork  is 
in  contact  with  the  flue  at  any  place.  It  should  be  taken 
as  a  safe  rule,  that  woodwork  should  in  no  case  be  nearer 
the  flue  or  furnace  than  eight  inches.  In  constructing, 
do  not  be  influenced  by  what  the  mechanics  will  tell  you, 
as  few  of  them  have  any  experience  in  such  matters,  and 


GREEN-HOUSE   STRUCTURES.  113 

are  not  able  to  judge  of  the  dangers  resulting  from  wood- 
work being  in  close  contact  with  the  heated  bricks.  (For 
cost  of  construction  see  page  116.) 

HEATING  BY  STEAM. 

Steam  heating,  we  think,  in  all  probability  will  soon  be 
extensively  used,  particularly  in  large  establishments  that 
are  put  up  at  one  time.  The  following  is  from  E.  H. 
Bochman,  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  who  has  been  eminently 
successful  with  steam  heating  for  green-houses.  He  is 
strong  in  the  belief  that  it  will  eventually  supersede  all 
other  methods.  He  says : 

"  The  New  System  of  Heating  Green-houses  by  Low- 
pressure  Steam,  by  which  are  gained  important  advan- 
tages in  every  essential  requisite  in  a  heating  apparatus, 
viz.,  efficiency,  economy  of  fuel  and  attention,  safety,  and 
simplicity,  consists  of  a  series  of  steam  tubes  of  not  less 
than  two  inches  in  diameter,  placed  under  the  benches  or 
suspended  along  the  walls,  as  may  be  best  suited,  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  drain  themselves  into  a  water  and  steam- 
tight  vessel,  which,  therefore,  has  to  be  situated  at  the 
lowest  convenient  point.  These  tubes  or  pipes  should 
present  a  radiating  surface  of  about  one  square  foot  to 
ten  square  feet  of  glass  surface  ;  or,  better  expressed,  one 
square  foot  to  seventy  cubic  feet  of  space  to  be  heated  to 
at  least  55°  in  any  weather  up,  or  rather  down  to  25° 
below  zero,  and  at  a  pressure  of  steam  not  to  exceed  fif- 
teen pounds  to  the  square  inch.  If  a  higher  temperature 
is  desired,  say  from  65°  to  70°,  make  the  radiating  surface 
equal,  say,  one  square  foot  to  fifty  cubic  feet  for  the  same 
pressure  of  steam.  The  form  of  boiler  is  immaterial ; 
whichever  is  best  suited  and  most  economical  for  the 
particular  fuel  you  use,  is  the  one  to  adopt,  and  its  ca- 


1 14  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

pacity  should  not  be  less  than  one  horse  power  to  120 
square  feet  of  radiating  surface,  which,  represented  in 
two-inch  pipe,  is,  in  round  numbers,  240  lineal  feet.  This 
boiler  should  be  provided  with  an  automatic  and  positive- 
acting  steam  trap,  to  return  the  condensation  which  gathers 
in  the  vessel  above  mentioned  to  the  boiler,  thereby  main- 
taining at  all  times  sufficient  water;  in  fact,  establishing 
complete  circulation,  much  the  same  as  by  hot  water  ; 
and  when  you  add  to  this  an  efficient  automatic  damper- 
regulator,  (do  not  let  yourself  be  humbugged  into  any  dia- 
phragm nuisance,)  you  have  '  The  coming  heating  appa- 
ratus? compared  to  which  any  other  hitherto  in  use,  of 
whatever  form,  is  a  cumbersome,  wasteful,  and  inefficient 
affair.  Five  seasons'  use  speaks  volumes  for  its  superi- 
ority, and  it  has  already  the  entire  endorsement  of  some 
of  the  most  successful  and  progressive  commercial  florists 
of  the  country." 

HEATING  BY  HOT-BEDS. 

(From  Henderson's  Hand-Book  of  Plants.) 

The  preparation  of  the  heating  material  for  the  hot- 
bed is  a  matter  of  importance.  It  should  be  manure 
fresh  from  the  horse-stable,  and  when  they  can  be  pro- 
cured, it  is  better  to  mix  it  with  about  an  equal  bulk 
of  leaves  from  the  woods,  or  refuse  hops.  If  the  weather 
is  very  cold,  the  bulk  of  manure  must  be  of  good  size, 
from  five  to  six  wagon  loads,  thrown  into  a  compact 
round  heap,  else  the  mass  may  be  so  chilled  that  heat 
will  not  generate.  If  a  shed  is  convenient,  the  manure 
may  be  placed  there,  especially  if  the  quantity  is  small,  to 
be  protected  from  cold  until  the  heat  begins  to  rise.  The 
heap  should  be  turned  and  well  broken  up  before  being 
used  for  the  hot-beds,  so  that  the  rank  steam  may  escape, 


GREEN-HOUSE   STRUCTURES.  115 

and  the  manure  become  of  the  proper  "  sweetened  "  con- 
dition. It  is  economy  of  the  heating  material  to  use  a 
pit  for  the  hot-bed.  This  should  be  made  from  two  to 
three  feet  deep,  six  feet  wide,  and  of  any  required  length. 

After  the  heating  material  has  been  packed  in  the  pit 
to  the  depth  of  twenty  to  twenty-four  inches,  accord- 
ing to  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  wanted,  or  the  season 
of  the  year,  (the  earlier  in  the  season,  the  deeper  it  is 
needed,)  the  sashes  should  be  placed  on  the  frame,  and 
kept  close  until  the  heat  generates  in  the  hot-bed,  which 
will  usually  take  twenty-four  hours.  Now  plunge  a 
thermometer  into  the  manure,  and  if  all  is  right  it  will 
indicate  100  degrees  or  more  ;  but  this  is  yet  too  hot  as 
bottom  heat  for  the  growth  of  seeds  or  plants,  and  a  few 
days  of  delay  must  be  allowed  until  the  thermometer 
indicates  a  falling  of  8  or  10  degrees,  when  four  or  five 
inches  of  soil  may  be  placed  upon  the  manure,  and  the 
seeds  sown  or  plants  set  out  in  the  hot-bed.  Amateurs 
are  apt  to  be  impatient  in  the  matter  of  hot-beds,  and 
often  lose  their  first  crop  by  sowing  or  planting  before 
the  first  violent  heat  has  subsided.  Another  very  com- 
mon mistake  is  in  beginning  too  early  in  the  season.  In 
the  latitude  of  New  York  nothing  is  gained  by  beginning 
before  the  first  week  in  March,  and  the  result  will  be 
very  nearly  as  good  if  not  begun  until  a  month  later. 

There  are  two  or  three  important  matters  to  bear  in 
mind  in  the  use  of  hot-beds.  It  is  indispensable  for 
safety  to  cover  the  glass  at  night  with  shutters  or  mats 
until  all  danger  of  frost  is  over  ;  for  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  contents  of  a  hot-bed  are  always  tender, 
from  being  forced  so  rapidly  by  the  heat  below,  and  that 
the  slightest  frost  will  kill  them.  Again,  there  is  danger 
of  overheating  in  the  daytime  by  a  neglect  to  ventilate 
when  the  sun  is  shining.  As  a  general  rule,  it  will  be 


Il6  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

safe  in  all  the  average  days  of  March,  April,  and  May,  to 
have  the  sash  of  the  hot-bed  tilted  up  from  an  inch  to 
three  inches  at  the  back  from  9  A.  M.  to  4  P.  M.  Much 
will,  of  course,  depend  upon  the  activity  of  the  heating 
material  in  the  hot-bed,  the  warmth  of  the  weather,  and 
the  character  of  the  plants  in  the  bed,  so  that  we  can 
only  give  a  loose  general  rule.  Numbers  of  inexperienced 
amateur  cultivators  often  lose  the  entire  contents  of 
their  hot-beds  by  having  omitted  to  ventilate  them,  and 
on  their  return  home  from  business  at  night  find  all  the 
contents  scorched  up  ;  or  the  danger  of  the  other  extreme 
is,  that  the  plants  are  frozen  through  neglect  to  cover 
them  at  night.  A  hot-bed  requires  a  certain  amount  of 
attention,  which  must  be  given  at  the  right  time,  or  no 
satisfactory  results  can  be  expected. 

COST  OF  CONSTRUCTION. 

Estimates  of  the  cost  of  green-houses  must  necessarily 
be  only  approximate,  according  as  to  how  the  work  is 
done,  when  done,  and  the  ever-changing  cost  of  material 
and  labor.  In  this  vicinity,  at  this  time,  a  green-house 
20  x  ioo  would  cost  about  $12  per  running  foot.  If  two 
together,  (ridge  and  furrow,  as  in  Figure  4,)  each  20x50, 
about  $10  per  running  foot  for  each  house.  A  green- 
house like  Figure  3,  attached  to  a  dwelling,  would  cost 
about  $10  per  running  foot;  and  one  20x50,  like  Figures 
i  and  2,  (curved  roof  and  double  pitch,)  would  cost  pro- 
portionately. (These  estimates  do  not  include  heating.) 
Heating  by  hot  water  would  cost  about  two-thirds  more, 
making  the  cost  complete  about  $1,650.  If  heated  by 
flues,  as  in  Figures  7  and  8,  only  about  two  per  cent, 
more  would  be  required,  or  say  about  $1,100  complete. 


FORMATION    AND    RENOVATION    OF    LAWNS.          II'J 


FORMATION 


RENOVATION    OF  LAWNS. 

BY   PETER   HENDERSON. 

(Read  before  the  National  Convention  of  Nurserymen,  Florists, 
and  Seedsmen,  held  at  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  June  2Oth,  1883.) 


WE  not  unfrequently  see,  after  a  dwelling  costing 
$5,000,  $10,000,  $20,000,  or  $30,000  is  erected,  that  the 
grounds  surrounding  it  are  left  to  the  tender  mercy  of 
some  ignorant  pretender  to  grade  and  put  in  shape.  The 
educated,  intelligent  architect's  duties  in  many  cases  end 
with  the  completion  of  the  building,  and  the  "  garden 
architect "  (likely  some  pretentious  laborer)  is  installed 
to  grade  for  the  lawn;  and  a  common  consequence  is, 
that  the  beauty  of  the  place  may  be  forever  marred;  for 
this  matter  really  in  many  cases  requires  as  much  intel- 
ligence and  good  judgment  as  the  construction  of  the 
dwelling  itself. 

DRAINING  AND  GRADING. 

One  of  the  first  conditions  for  a  perfect  lawn  is,  that 
the  land  be  perfectly  drained  either  naturally  or  artifi- 
cially. If  the  subsoil  is  sand  or  gravel,  so  that  water  can 
quickly  pass  through  it,  then  there  will  be  no  need  for 
artificial  drains;  but  if  there  is  a  stratum  of  adhesive 
clay  for  a  subsoil,  then  drains  are  indispensable  every 


Il8  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

fifteen  or  twenty  feet.  As  the  formation  of  the  lawn  is 
the  foundation  of  all  subsequent  operations,  it  is  impera- 
tive that  it  be  carefully  done;  for  if  badly  done  at  first  it 
cannot  be  changed  or  altered,  unless  to  the  great  detri- 
ment of  trees  or  shrubs  that  have  been  planted,  or  flower 
beds  or  walks  that  have  been  laid  out. 

The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  get  the  ground  shaped 
to  the  desired  grade,  taking  care,  in  grading,  that  when 
hills  or  rocks  are  removed,  sufficient  subsoil  is  also 
removed  to  be  replaced  with  top  soil,  so  that  at  least  five 
inches  of  good  soil  will  overlay  the  whole  in  all  places; 
and  where  trees  are  to  be  planted  there  should  be  twice 
that  depth  of  good  soil.  When  the  grading  is  finished, 
if  the  nature  of  the  ground  requires  it,  drains  should  be 
laid  wherever  necessary;  and  then  the  whole  should  be 
thoroughly  plowed,  a  subsoil  following  in  the  wake  of  the 
common  plow,  until  it  is  completely  pulverized.  A  heavy 
harrow  should  then  be  applied  until  the  surface  is  thor- 
oughly fined  down.  All  stones,  roots,  etc.,  should  be 
removed,  so  that  a  smooth  surface  may  be  obtained.  We 
have  used,  with  great  effect  and  saving  of  labor,  a  com- 
paratively new  implement  known  as  the  "  Disc  Smooth- 
ing Harrow,"  which  fines  and  levels  the  land  equal  to  a 
steel  rake;  and  whenever  large  areas  are  in  preparation 
for  lawns,  or,  in  fact,  for  any  field  culture  requiring  a 
fine,  smooth  surface,  this  implement  will  be  found  to  be 
of  great  value. 

SOWING. 

When  the  seed  is  sown  a  light  harrow  snould  be  again 
applied,  so  as  to  sink  the  seed  two  inches  or  so  in  the 
soil,  and  after  that  a  thorough  rolling  given,  so  that  the 
surface  is  made  as  smooth  and  firm  as  possible.  In  the 
latitude  of  New  York,  the  seed  may  be  sown  any  time 


FORMATION    AND    RENOVATION    OF    LAWNS.          119 

during  the  months  of  April  and  May,  and  will  form  a 
good  lawn  by  July  or  August  if  the  preparation  has  been 
good,  or  in  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  days  from  the  time 
of  sowing.  If  sown  in  the  hot  months  of  June  or  July, 
a  sprinkling  of  oats  should  be  sown  at  the  same  time,  so 
that  the  shade  given  by  the  oats  will  protect  the  young 
grass  from  the  sun.  Lawns  are  very  often  sown  during 
the  early  fall  months  (September  being  the  best)  with 
excellent  results. 

In  my  extensive  experience,  I  have  found  that  the 
formula  for  seed  for  lawn  grass,  which  I  call  the  "  Cen- 
tral Park  Mixture,"  is  in  all  respects  the  best.  On  some 
soils  Kentucky  Blue  Grass  is  used  alone,  but  for  a  firm, 
carpet-like  lawn  I  consider  the  "  Central  Park  Lawn 
Mixture  "  preferable.  For  small  plots,  of  course,  dig- 
ging, trenching,  and  raking  must  be  done  instead  of 
plowing,  subsoiling,  and  harrowing,  and  the  surface, 
after  sowing,  should  be  patted  down  with  the  back  of  a 
spade  or  rolled  down  with  a  roller. 

SODDING. 

In  sloping  banks  it  is  often  necessary  to  use  sod,  as 
the  rains  wash  the  soil  off  before  the  grass  seed  has  had 
time  to  germinate.  It  is  sometimes  even  necessary,  in 
sodding  very  steep  banks,  to  use  pins  eight  or  ten  inches 
in  length  to  pin  the  sods  in  place,  to  prevent  them  from 
being  washed  down  by  excessive  rains  before  the  grass 
roots  have  had  time  to  fasten  in  the  soil.  In  small  yards 
sodding  is  often  done  so  as  to  get  immediate  results;  but 
in  all  such  cases  great  care  should  be  taken  to  see 
that  the  sods  used  are  of  the  proper  quality,  otherwise 
it  is  much  better  to  wait  a  few  months  for  the  lawn  seed 
to  produce  the  lawn. 


120  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


QUANTITY  OF  SEED. 

As  a  guide  for  the  proper  quantity  of  seed  required  to 
form  a  perfect  lawn,  I  may  state  that  one  quart  of 
"  Central  Park  Lawn  Mixture  "  is  sufficient  to  thoroughly 
sow  an  area  of  20  feet  by  15  feet,  (300  square  feet;)  or, 
to  cover  an  acre,  four  bushels  will  be  required.  It  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that,  in  order  to  produce  the  best 
results,  grass  seed  for  lawns  should  be  sown  at  least 
twice  as  thickly  as  if  sown  for  hay.  In  fact,  if  very 
rapid  results  are  wanted,  a  lawn  will  be  much  quicker 
obtained  by  using  twice  as  much  seed  per  acre.  In  a 
lawn  of  about  an  acre  in  extent,  which  I  made  this 
season,  eight  bushels  of  " Central  Park  Mixture"  were 
sown  on  the  25th  of  April,  harrowed  well  in  with  the 
ordinary  farm  harrow,  and  then  rolled  firmly  with  a 
heavy  iron  roller.  The  result  was,  that  by  July  ist,  or 
about  sixty  days  from  the  date  of  sowing,  a  perfect  lawn 
was  obtained,  having  had  to  be  twice  mowed  over  by  a 
machine  previous  to  that  date. 

FERTILIZERS  FOR  THE  LAWN. 

The  question  of  fertilizers  for  the  lawn  is  an  important 
one.  If  the  soil  is  naturally  a  deep,  rich  loam,  it  is  not 
indispensable  that  manure  at  all  be  used  the  season  of 
sowing,  although  in  every  case  it  would  be  an  advantage, 
and  is  really  essential  if  the  soil  is  poor  or  light.  Per- 
haps the  best  way  to  apply  well-rotted  stable  manure,  is 
to  spread  it  thick  enough  to  cover  the  ground  after  plow- 
ing or  digging,  and  then  harrow  or  rake  it  in;  but  when 
cost  is  no  special  object,  the  best  plan  to  insure  perma- 
nency for  the  lawn  is  to  use,  as  above,  from  2,500  to  3,000 


FORMATION    AND    RENOVATION    OF    LAWNS.         121 

pounds  of  coarse  ground  bone  per  acre,  or  in  that  pro- 
portion for  lesser  areas,  as  the  bone  decomposes  slowly. 
This  quantity,  harrowed  or  raked  deeply  in,  would  insure 
a  "velvet  lawn,"  under  ordinary  circumstances,  for  six 
or  eight  years  without  further  application  of  manures. 

TOP  DRESSING. 

When  the  land  has  not  been  fertilized  before  sowing, 
it  is  necessary  to  use  some  top  dressing  of  manure  each 
season  to  keep  up  the  fertility  of  the  lawn,  and  nothing 
is  better  for  this  purpose  than  to  spread  over  it  late 
in  the  fall,  (November  or  December,)  enough  short 
stable  manure  to  partially  cover  the  surface.  This  should 
be  allowed  to  remain  on  until  such  times  as  the  grass 
shows  signs  of  starting  in  the  spring,  when  the  rough 
portion  should  be  raked  off  and  a  heavy  roller  ap- 
plied, so  that  the  surface  of  the  lawn  may  be  rendered 
smooth  and  firm  for  the  mower.  If  the  top  dressing  of 
stable  manure  has  been  omitted  in  the  fall,  fine  bone 
dust,  mixed  with  finely  sifted  coal  or  wood  ashes,  in 
equal  parts,  may  be  sown  on  the  lawn  about  as  thick  as 
sand  is  usually  strewn  on  the  floor,  and  rolled  down. 

MOWING. 

Mowing  should  be  begun  in  the  spring  as  soon  as  the 
grass  is  two  or  three  inches  high,  and  continued  every 
seven  or  eight  days  until  the  cessation  of  growth  in  the 
fall.  If  the  lawn  is  gone  over  with  the  mower  once 
a  week,  the  clippings  are  best  left  on,  as  the  sun  quickly 
shrivels  them  up  so  that  they  never  appear  unsightly; 
but  if  mowing  is  delayed  two  or  three  weeks,  then  the 
grass  must  be  raked  off;  and  besides  the  labor  of  so 


122  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

doing,  the  rake  always   more   or  less  injures  the  lawn 
during  the  growing  season. 

DESTROYING  WEEDS. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  the  soil  contains  seeds  of 
perennial  plants!  Such  seeds  are  rarely  found  in  the 
grass  seed,  such  as  Dandelion,  Dock,  or  Thistles,  but  they 
seriously  interfere  with  the  beauty  of  the  lawn.  When 
such  occur,  there  is  no  other  remedy  than  the  slow  pro- 
cess of  cutting  them  out  with  a  knife.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  take  them  out  by  the  root;  if  the  "  crowns  "  of  these 
perennial  weeds  are  cut  just  below  the  surface,  they  will 
not  again  grow. 

RENOVATING  LAWNS. 

To  renovate  lawns  that  have  become  worn  out  by 
neglect  or  other  causes,  and  where  it  is  not  convenient 
or  desirable  to  renew  by  plowing  up,  they  may  be  greatly 
benefited  by  running  a  light  harrow  over  them,  if  the 
surface  is  large,  or  by  a  sharp  steel  rake  for  smaller 
areas.  After  stirring  the  surface  by  such  means  judi- 
ciously, so  as  not  to  too  severely  hurt  the  roots,  lawn 
grass  seed  should  be  sown  over  the  surface,  using  about 
half  the  quantity  advised  for  new  lawns.  After  sowing, 
the  surface  should  be  harrowed  or  raked  over,  and  firmly 
rolled  or  beaten  down;  but  if  spurious  grass  or  other 
weeds  have  got  possession  of  the  lawn,  then  this  way  of 
renovation  would  not  be  satisfactory,  and  it  had  better  be 
plowed  under  and  sown  afresh,  in  the  manner  already 
given  for  the  formation  of  the  lawn. 


( 


ONION    GROWING    FOR   MARKET 


TJ  DIVERSITY 

.  T2J 


ONION    GROWING 

FOR 

MARKET. 


SOIL. 

IT  is  the  generally  received  opinion  that  Onions  grow 
best  in  old  ground.  This,  I  think,  is  an  error.  It  is  not 
because  the  ground  is  "old,"  or  has  been  long  cultivated, 
that  the  Onions  do  better  there,  but  because  such  lands, 
from  their  long  culture,  are  usually  better  pulverized; 
and  experience  has  shown  me  repeatedly,  that  when  new 
soil  has  been  equally  well  pulverized  and  fertilized,  an 
equally  good  crop  is  obtained,  and  usually  a  cleaner  crop, 
more  exempt  from  rust  or  mildew.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
the  finest  crop  of  Onions  I  ever  beheld  was  on  sandy 
swamp  land,  which  had  been  first  thoroughly  drained  and 
broken  up.  In  fact,  new  soils,  particularly  when  broken 
up  from  pasture  land,  (turned  over  early  enough  in  the 
fall,  so  that  the  sod  is  rotted  completely,)  make  excellent 
land  for  Onion  crops,  as  they  are  usually  free  from  weeds. 
Such  land,  however,  must  be  well  pulverized  by  the  use  of 
the  plow,  harrow,  and  smoothing  harrow,  or  good  results 
may  not  follow.  Much  depends  on  the  quality  of  such 
soil.  If  rather  sandy  loam,  it  will,  of  course,  be  much 
easier  to  pulverize  than  if  stiff  or  clayey  loam,  and  such 
soil,  in  my  experience,  is  always  preferable  for  most 
crops.  Such  soils,  also,  are  nearly  always  free  from  un- 
der water,  rarely  requiring  artificial  drainage,  if  the  land 


124  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

is  level,  and  it  always  should  be  selected  as  level  as  pos- 
sible for  the  Onion  crop,  as  when  land  slopes  to  any 
great  extent,  much  damage  is  often  done  by  washing  out, 
the  Onion  roots  being  near  the  surface,  and,  consequently, 
cannot  resist  floods  as  crops  do  that  root  deeper. 

Many  Onion  growers,  who  make  a  specialty  of  the 
business,  find  it  is  economical  to  alternate  the  crop  with 
a  green  crop,  such  as  German  Millet,  which  can  be  cut 
for  hay  in  July,  and  the  "  stubble  "  plowed  down  in  Au- 
gust, giving  a  fresh  fibrous  soil,  clear  of  weeds,  for  the 
Onion  crop  to  be  sown  next  spring.  It  is  not  claimed 
that  the  alternation  of  a  green  crop  with  the  Onions  is  a 
necessity,  as  it  is  well  known  that  the  Onion  is  one  of  the 
very  few  crops  that  does  not  seem  benefited  by  alternat- 
ing ;  but  it  is  claimed  that  it  gives  almost  entire  freedom 
from  weeds,  as  after  a  crop  of  Millet  which  has  been  cut 
before  its  seed  ripens,  few  troublesome  weeds  will  come 
up  the  next  year. 

MANURES. 

I  have  always  held  the  opinion,  that  when  well-rotted 
stable  manure,  whether  from  horses  or  cows,  can  be  pro- 
cured, at  a  cost  not  exceeding  $3.00  per  ton  delivered  on 
the  ground,  it  is  cheaper  and  better  than  any  kind  of 
concentrated  fertilizer.  It  should  be  plowed  in  at  the 
rate  of  thirty  tons  per  acre.  The  concentrated  fertilizers 
in  the  market  are  now  so  numerous  that  it  would  be  in- 
vidious to  specify  particular  brands.  We  ourselves,  ex- 
cept in  using  occasionally  the  "  Blood  and  Bone  Fertil- 
izer," which  we  have  proved  to  be  excellent,  use  only 
pure  ground  bone  and  Peruvian  guano,  which,  for 
Onions,  we  prefer  to  mix  together  in  equal  parts,  sowing 
it  on  the  land  after  plowing,  at  the  rate  of  at  least  one 
ton  per  acre  of  the  mixture,  (when  no  stable  manure  has 


ONION    GROWING    FOR    MARKET.  125 

been  used,)  and  after  sowing  to  be  harrowed  in,  as  de- 
scribed in  "Preparing  the  Ground." 

One  of  the  most  valuable  manures  for  the  Onion  crop 
are  the  droppings  from  the  chicken  or  pigeon  house, 
which,  when  mixed  with  twice  their  weight  of  lime,  or  coal 
or  wood  ashes,  so  as  to  disintegrate  and  pulverize  them, 
may  be  sown  on  the  land  after  plowing,  to  be  harrowed 
in,  at  the  rate  of  three  or  four  tons  per  acre  of  the  mix- 
ture. Night  soil,  when  mixed  with  dry  muck,  coal  ashes, 
charcoal  dust,  lime,  or  lime  rubbish,  as  absorbents,  and 
spread  on  after  plowing  at  the  rate  of  six  or  eight  tons 
per  acre,  and  harrowed  deeply  in,  will  never  fail  to  pro- 
duce a  heavy  crop  of  Onions  in  any  suitable  soil. 

There  are  many  other  manures  that  will  answer  the 
purpose,  often  to  be  had  in  special  localities,  such  as  the 
refuse  hops  and  "grains"  from  breweries,  which  should 
be  used  in  the  same  manner  and  quantities  as  stable 
manure;  while  fish  guano,  whalebone  shavings,  or  shav- 
ings from  horn,  when  pulverized  so  as  to  be  in  proper 
condition  to  be  taken  up  by  the  plants,  are  nearly  equal 
in  value  to  ground  bone.  Wood  ashes  alone,  spread  on 
at  the  rate  of  five  or  six  tons  per  acre,  will  usually  give 
excellent  results. 

It  is  well  ever  to  keep  the  fact  in  mind,  that  it  will 
always  be  more  profitable  to  fertilize  one  acre  of  Onions 
well  than  two  imperfectly.  If  thirty  tons  of  stable 
manure  or  one  and  one-half  tons  of  concentrated  fer- 
tilizer are  used  to  an  acre,  the  net  profits  are  almost  cer- 
tain to  be  larger  than  if  that  quantity  had  been  spread 
over  two  acres;  for  in  all  probability  nearly  as  much 
weight  of  crop  would  be  got  from  the  one  well-manured 
acre  as  from  the  two  that  had  been  done  imperfectly, 
besides  the  saving  of  seed  and  labor  in  cultivating  two 
acres  instead  of  one, 


126  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


PREPARING  THE  GROUND. 

In  preparing  the  ground  for  the  reception  of  the  seed, 
(if  it  has  not  been  plowed  the  fall  previous,)  plowing  should 
be  begun  as  soon  as  the  land  is  dry  enough  to  work,  first 
having  spread  over  the  land  well-rotted  stable  manure, 
at  the  rate  of  thirty  tons  to  the  acre.  This  should  be 
lightly  turned  under,  plowing  not  more  than  five  or  six 
inches  deep,  and  covering  the  manure  so  that  it  will  be 
three  or  four  inches  under  the  surface.  For  this  reason, 
the  manure  must  be  well  rotted,  otherwise  it  cannot  be 
well  covered  by  the  plow.  If  concentrated  fertilizers  are 
to  be  used,  it  is  best  to  plow  the  land  up  roughly,  sow 
the  fertilizer  at  the  rate  of  one  to  two  tons  per  acre,  ac- 
cording to  its  fertilizing  properties,  and  then  harrow 
thoroughly,  so  that  it  is  regularly  incorporated  with  the 
soil.  After  harrowing  with  an  ordinary  toothed  harrow, 
the  surface  should  be  further  leveled  with  some  kind 
of  a  "smoothing"  harrow,  either  Meeker's  Smoothing 
Disc  Harrow,  or  some  sort  of  chain  harrow.  The  former 
I  like  best,  as  the  revolving  discs  pulverize  the  soil  to  a 
depth  of  three  inches  much  better  than  it  can  be  done 
by  raking,  and  the  smoothing  board,  which  follows  in 
the  wake  of  the  revolving  wheels,  makes  the  surface,  if 
free  from  stones,  smooth  as  a  board,  and  far  better  than 
it  can  be  done  by  raking. 

SOWING  THE  SEED. 

The  ground  being  thus  prepared,  the  next  thing  is  the 
sowing  of  the  seed,  about  six  pounds  being  used  per 
acre.  This,  of  course,  now-a-days,  is  done  always  by  the 
seed  drilling  machine,  of  which  there  are  a  dozen  or 


ONION    GROWING    FOR    MARKET.  127 

more  in  the  market,  nearly  all  of  which  do  the  work  well. 
In  our  business  at  the  present  date,  we  sell  the  Matthews 
and  the  Planet,  Jr.,  giving  the  preference  in  the  order  in 
which  they  are  named.  In  sowing  the  first  row,  a  line 
must  be  stretched  so  as  to  have  that  line  straight,  after 
which  the  sower  can  readily  regulate  the  other  lines. 
The  favorite  distance  for  Onion  rows  to  be  placed  apart 
is  fifteen  inches,  though  they  are  sometimes  sown  as  close 
as  twelve  inches,  leaving  out  every  ninth  row  for  an  al- 
ley, thus  forming  them  into  beds  of  eight  rows  each. 
Where  there  is  reason  to  believe  weeds  may  be  trouble- 
some, this  plan  of  forming  in  beds  has  the  advantage  of 
the  alley  (twenty-four  inches  wide)  to  throw  the  weeds  in. 
I  so  firmly  believe  in  the  value  of  firming  in  the  seeds 
after  sowing,  that  I  advise,  in  addition  to  the  closing 
and  firming  of  the  seeds  by  the  drill,  to  use  a  roller  be- 
sides, particularly  if  the  land  is  light,  or  where  the  soil 
has  not  been  sufficiently  firmed  down. 

CULTIVATING. 

There  is  no  crop  where  the  adage  of  "  a  stitch  in  time  " 
is  so  applicable  as  in  the  Onion  crop;  so  that  just  as  soon 
as  the  lines  can  be  well  seen,  which  will  be  in  twenty  or 
thirty  days  after  sowing,  apply  the  hand  cultivator  be- 
tween the  rows.  There  are  a  great  many  styles  of  hand 
cultivators.  On  light  soils,  the  best  we  have  used  is 
known  as  the  "  Universal.'1  The  distance  at  which  On- 
ions should  stand  is  from  one  to  two  inches,  and  if  the 
crop  is  sown  evenly  and  thinly  few  will  require  to  be 
taken  out;  but  whether  it  be  weeds  or  Onions  that  are  to 
be  removed,  one  thing  should  never  be  lost  sight  of,  that 
when  this  operation  is  done,  every  inch  of  the  surface 
should  be  broker;.  This  is  best  done  after  having  been  run 


128  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

through  by  the  hand  cultivator,  by  using  a  wooden  lawn 
rake  all  over  the  land,  lightly  raking  across  the  rows.  It 
is  one  of  the  most  common  mistakes  in  a  laborer  when 
weeding  or  hoeing,  if  he  sees  no  weeds,  to  pass  over  such 
portions  without  breaking  the  crust.  By  this  neglect,  he 
not  only  most  likely  passes  another  crop  of  weeds  in  em- 
bryo under  the  unbroken  crust,  but  the  portion  unbroken 
loses  the  stirring  so  necessary  for  the  well-being  of  the 
crop.  In  my  long  experience  in  garden  operations,  I 
have  had  more  trouble  to  keep  the  workmen  up  to  the  mark 
in  this  matter  than  in  any  other;  and  I  never  fail,  when 
I  discover  a  man  in  such  negligence,  to  set  him  back  over 
his  work  until  he  does  it  properly;  and  if  he  again  fails 
to  do  so,  promptly  dismiss  him. 

HARVESTING. 

The  Onion  crop  is  usually  fit  to  harvest  in  this  section 
from  the  5th  to  the  2oth  of  August;  that  is,  when  the 
seed  has  been  sown  in  early  spring,  which  should  be  not 
later  than  May  ist,  if  possible,  and  if  by  April  ist,  all  the 
better.  If  the  seed  be  sown  too  late,  it  may  delay  the 
time  of  ripening,  which  may  result  in  a  complete  loss  of 
the  crop;  for  if  the  bulbs  are  not  ripened  by  August, 
there  is  danger,  if  September  is  wet,  that  they  will  not 
ripen  at  all;  hence  the  great  necessity  of  early  seeding  in 
spring.  If  the  Onion  crop  is  growing  very  strong,  it  will 
facilitate  the  ripening  process  by  bending  the  leaves  down 
with  the  back  of  a  wooden  rake,  or  some  such  implement, 
so  as  to  ''knee  '  them,  as  it  is  called,  at  the  neck  of  the 
bulb.  This  checks  the  flow  of  sap  and  tends  to  ripen  the 
bulb. 

After  the  tops  of  the  Onions  become  yellow  and  wither 
up,  they  should  be  pulled  without  unnecessary  delay;  for 


ONION    GROWING    FOR    MARKET.  1 29 

if  continued  wet  weather  should  occur  and  delay  the 
pulling  too  long,  a  secondary  growth  of  the  roots  may  be 
developed,  which  would  injure  the  crop  seriously.  After 
pulling,  lay  the  bulbs  in  convenient  rows,  so  as  to  cover 
the  ground,  but  not  to  lay  on  each  other.  By  turn- 
ing them  every  day  or  two,  in  six  or  eight  days  they  will 
usually  be  dry  enough  to  be  carted  to  their  storage 
quarters,  where  the  shriveled  tops  are  cut  off,  and  the 
Onions  stored  on  slatted  shelves,  to  the  depth  of  six  or 
eight  inches,  in  some  dry  and  airy  place. 

It  is  of  importance  to  have  the  bottom  of  the  shelves 
slatted,  so  as  to  leave  spaces  an  inch  or  so  apart,  that  air 
may  be  admitted  at  the  bottom  as  well  as  the  top  of  the 
heap.  The  shelves,  when  all  the  space  at  hand  is  to  be 
made  available,  may  be  constructed  one  above  another. 
But  if  to  be  kept  through  the  winter,  they  must  be  pro- 
tected in  some  building  capable  of  resisting  severe  frost, 
or  covered  with  hay  or  straw,  as  a  protection  against  ex- 
treme cold;  for  although  the  Onion  will  stand  a  moderate 
degree  of  frost,  yet  any  long  continuation  of  a  zero  tem- 
perature would  injure  it.  When  frozen  they  should  never 
be  handled,  as  in  that  condition  they  are  easily  blemished 
and  would  rot.  When  kept  in  barrels,  holes  should  be 
bored  in  the  sides,  and  they  should  be  left  unheaded  un- 
til shipped,  so  as  to  permit  the  escape  of  any  moisture 
that  may  be  generated. 

INSECTS  AND  OTHER  ENEMIES. 

For  such  insects  as  attack  the  Onion  crop,  I  am  much 
afraid  there  are  few,  if  any,  effective  remedies.  Every 
year's  experience  with  the  enemies  that  attack  plants  in 
the  open  field  convinces  me  that  with  very  few  of  them 
can  we  successfully  cope.  The  remedy,  if  remedy  it  is, 


130  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

for  rust,  smut,  or  other  mildew  parasites,  must,  in  my 
opinion,  be  a  preventive  one;  that  is,  whenever  practi- 
cable, use  new  land  or  renew  the  old  land  by  a  green 
crop,  such  as  Rye,  Timothy,  or  Millet,  in  all  sections 
subject  to  these  diseases.  The  same  plan  had  better  be 
adopted  in  all  sections  where  the  Onion  maggot,  or  other 
insects,  attacks  the  crop. 

The  theory  for  this  practice  is,  that  it  is  believed  that 
nearly  all  plants  affected  by  insects  or  disease  have  such 
peculiar  to  themselves,  and  that  the  germs  lie  in  the  soil 
ready  to  fasten  on  the  same  crop,  if  planted  without  in- 
termission on  the  same  ground,  while  if  a  season  inter- 
venes the  larva  or  germ  has  nothing  congenial  to  feed 
on,  and  is,  in  consequence,  destroyed.  In  practice,  we 
usually  find  that  cultivated  land  "  rested  "  for  a  season 
by  a  grass  crop  gives  always  a  cleaner  and  healthier  crop 
to  whatever  vegetable  follows  it.  In  cases,  however, 
where  the  land  cannot  be  rested,  or  when  it  has  been 
rested  to  be  cropped  in  spring,  it  is  a  great  preventive 
of  the  ravages  of  all  kinds  of  insects  to  plow  the  land  in 
the  fall  as  late  as  possible,  so  as  to  disturb  the  larvae  of 
insects  and  expose  them  to  the  action  of  frosts  and  rains. 

THE  PRODUCT. 

The  average  product  of  the  Onion  crop  varies  very 
much,  ranging  from  300  to  900  bushels  per  acre,  the 
mean  being  about  600  bushels  per  acre.  The  price  is 
variable  like  all  perishable  commodities,  ranging  from 
fifty  cents  per  bushel,  the  price  at  which  they  usually 
wholesale  in  the  New  York  market  in  fall,  to  $i  or  $1.50 
per  bushel  for  winter  and  spring  prices.  The  estimate, 
then,  of  profit  per  acre  may  be  given  about  as  follows; 


ONION    GROWING    FOR    MARKET.  13! 

Manure,  per  acre $72  °° 

Plowing,  weeding,  and  harvesting  crop,  per 

acre 100  oo 

6  Ibs.  seed,  average  $2  per  Ib 12  oo 

Rent  or  interest  on  land,  per  acre 9  oo 

Marketing  crop,  per  acre 7  oo 

$200  oo 


600  bushels  per  acre,  at  5oc $300  oo 

Cost. .  200  oo 


Profit $100  oo 

This  estimate  is  a  moderate  one;  for  if  the  crop  is  sold 
in  spring,  the  chances  are  that  the  profit  may  be  two  or 
three  times  as  much. 

ONIONS  SOLD  GREEN. 

All  the  foregoing  relates  to  the  Onion  crop  ripened; 
but  in  all  large  cities  immense  quantities  of  Onions  are 
sold  in  the  green  state,  many  of  them  before  they  have 
attained  half  their  growth.  To  get  the  earliest  crop  of 
Onions  in  this  condition,  the  Onion  sets  are  used,  which 
are  small  Onions  from  the  size  of  a  pea  to  the  size  of 
three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  diameter;  but  the  smaller  the 
better,  as  they  make  a  crop  nearly  as  quick  and  never  run 
to  seed,  while  the  larger  ones  occasionally  do.  Onion  sets 
must  all  be  planted  by  hand,  in  rows  made  by  the  garden 
marker  at  about  nine  inches  apart,  and  the  sets  being 
planted  from  two  to  three  inches  apart.  They  are  most 
conveniently  planted  in  beds  of  eight  rows  each,  leaving  a 
space  of  eighteen  inches  for  an  alley-way. 

The  green  Onions  are  tied  in  bunches  of  eight  or  ten 


132  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

each,  and  often  sell  at  eight  and  ten  cents  per  bunch. 
The  crop  is  usually  begun  to  be  marketed  by  the  middle 
of  June,  and  is  sold  off  by  the  middle  of  July.  This 
garden  crop  of  Onions  is  usually  heavier  manured  and 
requires  more  labor  than  the  field  crop,  but  its  market 
value  is  often  three  times  that  of  the  field  crop.  Onions 
are  also  sown  in  this  vray  when  grown  from  seed,  but  of 
course  this  matures  two  or  three  weeks  later,  and  is  not 
usually  so  remunerative  as  the  green  crop  from  the  sets. 

POTATO  ONIONS. 

These  are  increased  by  the  bulb,  as  it  grows,  splitting 
into  six,  eight,  or  ten  sections,  which  form  the  crop  from 
which  the  "set''  or  root  for  next  season's  planting  is  ob- 
tained. The  sets  are  planted  in  early  spring,  in  rows  one 
foot  apart,  the  Onions  three  or  four  inches  between,  and, 
like  the  Onions  raised  from  sets,  are  generally  sold 
green,  as  in  that  state  they  are  very  tender,  while  in  the 
dry  state  they  are  less  desirable  than  the  ordinary  Onion. 

TOP  ONIONS. 

Top  Onions,  so  called,  are  propagated  by  the  peculiar 
property  of  this  variety  of  Onion  producing  a  cluster  of 
small  bulblets  on  the  Onion  stalk.  An  excrescence  of 
bulblets  is  formed  instead  of  flowers  and  seeds.  In  all 
respects  its  culture  is  the  same  as  the  Potato  Onion,  only 
that,  as  the  bulbs  are  smaller,  they  can  be  planted  closer. 

SHALLOTS. 

A  vegetable  nearly  allied  to  the  Potato  Onion,  only 
that  it  never  forms  an  individual  bulb  but  always  grows 


ONION    GROWING    FOR    MARKET.  133 

in  clusters.  It  is  planted  in  the  fall,  the  same  distance 
apart  as  the  Potato  Onion,  and  starts  to  grow  on 
the  first  opening  of  spring,  so  that  the  crop  is  usually 
marketed  in  May. 

VARIETIES  OF  THE  ONION. 

We  here  give  a  short  description  and  illustrations  of  the 
leading  varieties  of  Onions.  The  seeds  of  Onions  have 
heretofore  been  raised  mainly  in  Connecticut,  Massachu- 
setts, Rhode  Island,  and  Michigan,  but  of  late  years  large 
quantities  have  been  raised  in  California.  A  prejudice 
against  that  raised  in  California  originated  in  consequence 
of  the  first  lots  raised  there  being  from  inferior  stocks, 
but  later  experience  has  shown  us  beyond  question  that, 
when  the  quality  of  the  stock  from  which  the  seed  was 
raised  has  been  the  same  as  used  in  the  Eastern  States, 
the  crop  has  been  in  all  respects  equal.  In  our  "  trial 
grounds,"  where  upward  of  fifty  stocks  of  Onions  are 
tested  annually,  we  find  that  the  California  raised  seed  is 
in  no  way  inferior  to  that  raised  in  Connecticut  or  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Onion  seed  loses  its  germinating  power  sooner  than 
almost  any  other  seed,  and,  unless  the  sample  is  very  fine 
indeed,  it  is  of  little  use  the  second  year.  This  is  the 
reason  for  the  great  disparity  in  the  price  of  seeds,  for  as 
the  Onion  seed  crop  is  a  very  uncertain  one,  and  from  its 
germinating  qualities  being  limited  so  that  no  stock  can 
be  held  over,  the  price  in  different  seasons  fluctuates  from 
$i  to  $5  per  pound. 


134 


GARDEN  AND  FARM  TOPICS. 


EXTRA  EARLY  RED  ONION. 


FIRST  EARLY,  EXTRA  EARLY 
FLAT  RED.  A  thin,  rather 
light  colored  Onion,  and  a 
good  keeper,  but  earliest 
of  all. 

LARGE  RED  WETHERSFIELD. 
One  of  the  favorite  sorts 
for  the  general  crop,  and 
a  good  keeper  and  yielder. 

YELLOW  GLOBE  DANVERS. 
A  half-globe  shaped  stock, 
one  of  the  best  yielders 
and  a  splendid  keeper. 
EARLY  RED  GLOBE.  One 
of  the  earliest  of  the  Globe  varieties,  smaller  than  the 
Large  Red  Globe. 

LARGE  RED  GLOBE. 
Later  and  larger 
than  the  last,  but 
a  favorite  market 
sort,  and  a  perfect 
globe  shape. 

SOUTHPORT  LARGE 
WHITEGLOBE.  One 
of  the  best,  and  a 
favorite  sort  in  New 
York  markets,  al- 
ways bringing  the 
highest  price. 

SOUTHPORT  LARGE 
YELLOW  GLOBE. 

Similar  to  the  White  LARGE  RED  WETHER^FIELD  ONION. 


ONION    GROWING    FOR    MARKET. 

Globe,  except  in   color, 
and  a  good  keeper. 

WHITE  PORTUGAL,  OR  SIL- 
VER SKIN.  One  of  the 
leading  sorts  of  white 
flat  Onion,  a  most  ex- 
cellent keeper  and  good 
yielder. 

YELLOW  DUTCH.  A  flat 
yellow  Onion,  a  good 
yielder,  but  not  so  desi- 
rable as  the  other  yellow 
sorts,  on  account  of  its 
color  and  shape.  This 
and  the  Flat  Yellow  Dan- 
vers  are  very  similar. 
One  of  the  heaviest  crop- 
pers. 

Italian  varieties  well 
adapted  for  growing  in  the 
Southern  States : 

QUEEN.  The  earliest  of 
all  Onions,  small,  flat, 
white,  and  mild  flavored. 

NEAPOLITAN  MARZAJOLE. 
An  early  white  flat  Onion, 
fine  flavor. 

LARGE  WHITE  ITALIAN 
TRIPOLI.  Grows  to  a 

large    Size,   and    IS    later  SOUTHPORT  LARGE  YELLOW  GLOBE  ONION. 


136 


GARDEN    AND   FARM    TOPICS. 


than  either  of  the  pre- 
ceding. 

LARGE  RED  ITALIAN 
TRIPOLI.  Similar  to 
the  preceding,  except 
in  color. 

GIANT  ROCCA.  A  very 
large-growing  globe- 
shaped  variety  of  a 
reddish  brown  color; 
flavor  mild  and  sweet. 


WHITE  PORTUGAL,   OB  SILVER  SKIN  ONION. 


YELLOW  DUTCH  ONION. 


HOW  TO  GROW  CABBAGE  AND  CAULIFLOWER.    137 

HOW   TO   GROW 
CABBAGE   AND   CAULIFLOWER, 

(EARLY  AND  LATE.) 


IN  answer  to  hundreds  of  inquiries  that  are  made  to 
me  each  season  in  relation  to  the  various  phases  of  Cab- 
bage and  Cauliflower  culture,  I  find  it  necessary  to  write 
a  special  article  on  this  subject,  much  of  the  information 
given  being  in  reply  to  and  in  anticipation  of  the  various 
questions  that  have  been  and  are  likely  to  be  asked. 

SOIL. 

Cabbage  is  much  easier  managed  than  Cauliflower,  and 
is,  consequently,  more  certain  of  giving  a  crop,  even 
under  unfavorable  conditions.  The  first  condition  of 
success  with  the  Cabbage  crop,  like  that  of  nearly  every 
other  vegetable,  is  the  right  kind  of  soil.  The  best  soil 
for  Cabbage  is  a  rather  sandy  loam,  not  less  than  ten 
inches  deep,  the  subsoil  under  which  should  be  sand  or 
gravel;  a  clayey  or  stiff  subsoil  is  uncongenial  to  almost 
every  crop.  Not  only  does  it  delay  operations  in  spring, 
as  such  soils  dry  slowly,  but  even  when  fit  to  work,  the 
labor  on  soils  having  a  clay  or  "  hard  pan  "  subsoil  is 
nearly  twice  that  of  lighter  soils,  and  usually  with  less 
satisfactory  results.  It  may  be  superfluous  to  say  that, 
unless  the  soil  for  Cabbage  is  drained  artificially  or 
naturally,  (by  a  sand  or  gravel  subsoil.)  success  is  impos- 
sible. This,  of  course,  is  true  of  nearly  every  crop 
grown. 


138  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

The  proper  pulverizing  of  the  soil  is  a  matter  of  the 
utmost  importance.  Although  many  of  the  large  market 
gardens  in  Europe  are  yet  dug  with  the  spade  or  digging 
fork,  it  is  rare  that  anything  else  is  used  with  us  than 
the  plow  and  harrow.  We  ourselves  are  so  satisfied  of 
the  superiority  of  the  plow,  as  a  pulverizer  of  the  soil, 
over  the  spade  or  digging  fork,  that  we  would  not  allow 
our  grounds,  for  any  purpose,  to  be  dug,  even  if  done 
for  nothing,  and  no  digging  is  ever  done  on  our  grounds 
in  any  spot  where  horses  can  be  worked.  Experience 
has  shown  us  that  it  is  always  beneficial  to  plow  land  in 
the  fall,  not  only  that  when  thus  thrown  up  in  ridges  it 
gets  pulverized  by  the  action  of  the  frost,  but  also  that 
the  turning  up  of  the  soil  exposes  the  larvae  and  eggs  of 
insects  also  to  the  frost,  which  tends  greatly  to  lessen 
their  numbers  the  succeeding  year. 

MANURE  HEAP. 

When  the  ground  to  be  used  for  the  crop  is  far  off 
from  the  manure  yard,  it  is  advantageous  to  have  the 
manure  placed  in  convenient  heaps  on  the  land,  say  of 
100  or  200  loads  in  each,  but  care  should  be  taken  that 
the  heap  is  not  spread  over  too  large  a  surface,  as,  (if 
the  land  has  been  heavily  manured  the  previous  year,) 
wherever  the  manure  heap  has  lain,  it  will  so  "poison" 
the  land  that  nothing  will  grow.  If,  however,  the  land 
is  newly  broken,  never  having  been  manured,  where  the 
manure  has  lain  the  crop  will  likely  be  the  best.  A  good 
height  for  the  manure  heap  is  from  four  to  six  feet.  For 
the  early  Cabbage  crop,  it  should  always  be  spread  on 
broadcast,  and  in  quantity  not  less  than  100  cart  loads, 
or  75  tons  to  the  acre,  which  will  leave  it,  when  spread, 
about  two  or  three  inches  in  thickness. 


HOW    TO    GROW    CABBAGE    AND    CAULIFLOWER.      139 

It  is  not  usual  that  much  choice  can  be  made  in  stable 
manure,  but  when  such  is  the  case,  equal  portions  of 
cow  and  horse  manure  are  preferable;  not  that  there  is 
much  difference  in  value,  weight  for  weight,  but  that  it 
is  advantageous  to  have  the  manure  of  the  cow  stable 
mixed  with  that  of  the  horse,  so  as  to  prevent  the  violent 
heating  of  the  horse  manure,  which,  if  not  repeatedly 
turned,  will  generate  heat  so  as  to  cause  it  to  "  fire-fang  " 
or  burn,  which  renders  it  comparatively  useless.  Always 
bear  in  mind  that  the  more  thoroughly  rotted  and  disin- 
tegrated manure  can  be  had,  the  better  will  be  the 
results.  When  manure  is  thoroughly  rotted  and  short,  it 
may  be  turned  in  by  the  plow  just  as  it  is  spread  on  the 
land;  but  if  long,  it  is  necessary  to  draw  it  into  the  furrow 
ahead  of  the  plow,  so  that  it  is  completely  covered  in. 

After  plowing  in  the  manure,  and  before  the  ground  is 
harrowed,  our  best  growers  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York 
sow  from  400  to  500  pounds  of  guano  or  bone  dust,  and 
then  harrow  it  deeply  in,  and  smooth  over  with  the  back 
of  the  harrow,  when  the  bed  is  ready  to  receive  the  plants. 

VARIETIES  TO  PLANT. 

In  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  and,  in  fact,  now  wher- 
ever the  business  of  market  gardening  is  intelligently 
followed,  the  best  varieties  of  Cabbage  for  the  early  crop 
are  recognized  to  be  the  "  Early  Jersey  Wakefield  "  and 
"  Henderson's  Early  Summer  "  for  general  culture,  and 
to  describe  others  of  the  scores  named  would  be  only 
confusing.  The  "  Jersey  Wakefield  "  is  the  earlier,  and 
is  a  little  smaller.  Our  prize  head  received  in  June,  1883, 
from  Mr.  J.  B.  Souders,  Vinton,  Iowa,  weighed  17 
pounds.  It  is  planted  usually  28  inches  between  the 
rows  and  16  inches  between  the  plants,  thus  requiring 


140  GARDEN   AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

from  10,000  to  12,000  plants  per  acre.  The  "Early 
Summer  "  grows  a  little  larger.  Our  prize  head,  received 
in  August,  1883,  weighed  24  pounds.  It  was  grown  by 


HENDERSON'S  SELECTED  EARLY  JERSEY  WAKEFIELD  CABBAGE. 

Mr.  George  Hattie,  Fallston,  Penn.  It  should  be  planted 
30  inches  apart  and  18  inches  between  the  plants,  requir- 
ing from  8,000  to  10,000  per  acre. 

The  reason  for  placing  the  rows  so  wide  apart  and  the 
plants  so  close  in  the  rows  is  to  admit  of  a  row  of  Let- 
tuce, Spinach,  or  Radishes  between  the  rows  of  Cabbage. 
All  of  these  vegetables  mature  quickly,  and  can  be  cut 
out  before  the  Cabbage  grows  enough  to  interfere  with 
them,  and  it  is  necessary  that  this  double  crop  should  be 
taken  off  the  land  so  as  to  help  pay  for  the  manure  that 
is  so  lavishly  used,  but  which  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
produce  a  good  crop  of  Cabbages.  Where  early  Cab- 
bage is  grown  alone,  it  would  be  better  to  plant  about 
two  or  two  and  a  half  feet  each  way,  so  that  cross  culti- 
vation can  be  done;  and  also,  in  cases  where  manure  in 


HOW    TO   GROW   CABBAGE    AND   CAULIFLOWER.     14! 

sufficient  quantities  is  not  attainable,  they  are  better 
thus  planted  when  manure  has  to  be  applied  in  the  hill. 
If  applied  in  the  hill,  a  good  shovelful  of  stable  manure 


HENDERSON  S  EARLY  SUMMER  CABBAGE. 

should  be  used  to  each,  mixing  it  well  with  the  soil,  but 
raising  the  "  hill,"  so-called,  no  higher  than  the  general 
surface. 

RAISING  OF  CABBAGE  PLANTS. 

The  raising  of  plants  for  the  early  crop  is  a  very  im- 
portant point.  The  great  majority  of  plants  for  the  early 
crop  are  sown  by  the  New  York  market  gardeners 
between  the  i$th  and  2oth  of  September,  that  is,  when 
the  "Early  Wakefield  "  is  used;  but  the  "  Early  Sum- 
mer "  should  not  be  sown  until  the  25th  to  the  3oth  of 
September.  Careful  attention  is  given  to  have  the  sow- 
ings made  as  near  as  possible  to  these  dates;  for  if 
earlier,  many  of  the  plants  will  go  to  seed,  particularly  the 


142  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

"  Early  Summer  "  variety.  Again,  if  much  later  than 
the  dates  last  given,  the  season  will  be  too  far  advanced, 
and  the  plants  would  not  be  strong  enough  to  keep  over 
winter  in  the  cold  frames. 

A  case  occurred  some  years  ago  in  Philadelphia,  where 
a  market  gardener  sowed  "  Early  York  "Cabbage  on  the  5th 
of  September,  and  nearly  every  plant  ran  to  seed.  The 
gardener  sued  the  seedsman  for  damages,  and  got  non- 
suited, as  he  deserved,  as  the  seedsman  had  no  difficulty 
in  showing  that  other  gardeners  who  had  purchased  this 
same  seed,  and  who  had  sown  it  at  the  proper  ^time,  (in 
that  latitude  2oth  of  September,)  had  no  such  bad 
results. 

In  about  thirty  days  from  the  time  Cabbage  seed  is 
sown  in  September,  the  plants  are  of  the  right  size  to 
"prick  out,"  or  transplant  into  the  cold  frames.  The 
plant  must  be  planted  down  to  the  first  leaf,  and  the 
root  well  firmed  with  the  dibber.  About  500  plants  are 
allowed  for  a  3  x  6  feet  sash.  The  cold  frame,  as  most 
gardeners  know,  is  simply  two  boards  run  parallel  six 
feet  apart,  the  back  board  being  ten  inches  and  the  front 
one  seven  or  eight  inches  high.  We  generally  have  all 
our  Cabbage  plants  transplanted  here  from  the  seed-bed 
to  the  cold  frames  by  the  istof  November,  and  it  seldom 
happens  that  we  have  the  weather  cold  enough  to  have 
the  sashes  put  on  before  the  end  of  November. 

We  are  repeatedly  asked  the  question, 

WHAT    DEGREE    OF    FROST    CABBAGE   PLANTS   WILL 
STAND 

in  the"  frames  before  being  covered  with  the  sash.  Much 
depends  on  the  condition  of  the  plants.  It  sometimes 
happens,  after  the  transplanting  is  finished  in  October, 


HOW    TO    GROW    CABBAGE    AND    CAULIFLOWER.      143 

(we  usually  begin  the  transplanting  in  the  frames  about 
the  1 5th,)  that  we  have  a  continuation  of  comparatively 
warm  weather,  which  induces  a  quick  and  soft  growth  in 
the  plants,  which,  of  course,  renders  them  very  suscepti- 
ble of  injury  from  frost.  When  in  that  condition,  we 
have  seen  them  injured  when  the  thermometer  only 
marked  27°  above  zero,  or  but  5°  of  frost;  while  if 
gradually  hardened  by  being  exposed  to  chilly  nights, 
they  would  receive  no  injury  even  when  the  thermometer 
marks  10°  or  12°  above  zero.  This  will  be  well  under- 
stood when  we  remember  that  in  midwinter,  when 
covered  with  sash  alone,  they  sustain  a  cold,  often  for 
days  together,  of  10°  below  zero;  but  then,  of  course, 
they  have  been  gradually  inured  to  it.  In  sections  of  the 
country  where  the  thermometer  falls  to  15°  or  20°  below 
zero,  it  will  be  necessary  to  use  straw  mats  or  shutters 
over  the  glass.  At  all  times,  from  the  time  of  putting 
sashes  on  in  fall  until  taking  them  off  in  spring,  (which 
is  usually  from  the  i5thof  March  to  April  ist,)  abundant 
ventilation  should  be  given,  so  as  to  render  them  as 
hardy  as  possible.  The  sure  indication  that  they  are  in 
the  "  frost  proof  "  condition  is  when  the  leaves  show  a 
bluish  color,  which  they  get  when  they  have  been  gradu- 
ally hardened  off. 

SPRING  SOWING. 

Although  the  most  of  the  Jersey  market  gardeners 
still  use  the  cold  frames  for  growing  the  bulk  of  their 
early  Cabbage  crop,  yet  of  late  years  the  system  of  spring 
sowing  and  transplanting,  and  sometimes  even  without 
transplanting,  is  also  used  to  a  considerable  extent.  This 
is  usually  done  by  sowing  the  seeds  thickly  (about  one 
ounce  to  three  sashes)  in  a  hot -bed  or  green-house  about 
February  ist,  and  transplanting  into  a  slight  hot-bed 


144  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

about  March  ist,  placing  about  600  or  700  in  a  3x6 
feet  sash.  The  hot-beds  must,  of  course,  be  carefully 
protected  by  straw  mats  from  frost,  and  with  the  proper 
attention  to  ventilation  and  watering,  fine  plants  can  be 
obtained  by  April  ist.  We  ourselves  have  grown  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  million  plants  each  spring  in  this  manner 
for  years  with  most  satisfactory  results. 

COLD  FRAMES. 

Another  plan  is  to  sow  the  Cabbage  seed  in  cold  frames 
from  the  i5th  of  February  to  March  ist,  or  even  later  for 
second  early.  By  this  method  one  ounce  of  seed  is 
enough  for  five  or  six  sashes,  and  it  had  better  be  sown 
in  rows  at  six  inches  apart,  as  thus  sown  the  air  gets 
better  around  the  plants,  making  them  stronger.  When 
the  seed  is  sown  in  the  cold  frames  in  this  way,  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  that  the  frost  should  be  excluded  by 
covering  the  glass  with  straw  mats  and  shutters;  for,  of 
course,  unless  kept  above  the  point  of  freezing,  the 
plants  cannot  grow.  The  cold  frames  to  be  used  for 
this  purpose  should  be  placed  in  the  warmest  and  most 
sheltered  place  possible;  the  soil  should  be  light  and 
well  enriched  with  short  manure,  nicely  dug,  and  leveled 
and  raked  for  the  reception  of  the  seed.  If  sown  in 
drills,  they  should  be  about  two  inches  deep;  if  sown 
broadcast,  it  is  best  to  "  chip  "  the  ground  all  over  with 
a  steel  rake  so  as  to  sink  the  seed  to  the  depth  of  an  inch 
or  so;  but  in  both  cases  do  not  omit  to  firm  the  soil  by 
patting  the  surface  over  with  the  back  of  the  spade. 

All  these  directions  for  spring-sown  plants  are  given  for 
the  latitude  of  New  York,  where  the  operations  of  plant- 
ing Cabbage  plants  in  the  open  ground  are  usually  begun 
about  the  25th  of  March  and  finished  by  the  middle  of 


HOW    TO    GROW   CABBAGE    AND   CAULIFLOWER.     14$ 

April.  For  it  must  be  always  borne  in  mind  that  Cab- 
bage, being  a  hardy  plant,  when  wanted  for  an  early 
crop,  should  be  set  out  in  spring  in  any  section  as  soon 
as  the  land  is  dry  enough  to  work.  As  a  guide,  we  may 
say,  that  whenever  spring  crops  of  Rye,  Wheat,  or  Oats 
can  be  sown,  Cabbage  may  safely  be  planted  in  the  open 
field;  for  if  the  plants  have  been  properly  hardened,  they 
will  not  be  injured  after  being  planted  out,  even  by  eight 
or  ten  degrees  of  frost. 

The  conditions  in  the  different  Southern  States  ars  so 
varied  that  it  is  not  easy  to  give  directions.  It  may  be 
taken,  however,  as  a  general  rule,  that  in  any  section  of 
the  country  where  the  thermometer  does  not  fall  lower 
than  15°  above  zero,  Cabbage  seed  should  be  sown  about 
October  ist,  the  plants  left  (without  covering)  in  the 
seed-beds  all  winter,  and  transplanted  to  the  open  ground 
as  soon  as  it  is  fit  to  work  in  the  spring,  say  in  February 
or  March.  In  some  sections,  where  the  fall  weather 
continues  fine  into  November,  transplanting  is  done  in 
that  month  where  the  crop  is  to  mature. 

CULTIVATION. 

After  planting  in  the  field,  no  crop  takes  so  kindly  to 
hoeing  or  cultivating  as  Cabbage.  In  ten  days  after 
the  planting  is  finished,  cultivation  should  begin.  If  the 
Cabbages  have  been  set  two  or  two  and  a  half  feet  apart 
each  way,  then  the  horse  cultivator  is  the  best  pulverizer; 
but  if  a  crop  has  been  sown  or  planted  between  the  rows 
of  Cabbage,  then  a  hand  or  wheel  hoe  can  only  be  used. 
We  ourselves  now  use  the  wheel  hoe  exclusively,  and 
find  it  a  saving  of  three-fourths  in  labor,  with  the  work 
better  done. 

The  price  at  which  early  Cabbage  is  sold  now  varies  so 


146  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

much  at  different  dates,  and  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  that  it  is  impossible  to  give  anything  like 
accurate  figures,  the  range  being  all  the  way  from  $2.00 
to  $12.00  per  100.  Perhaps  $4.00  would  be  a  fair  aver- 
age for  "Wakefield"  and  $5.00  for  "  Early  Summer," 
so  that,  counting  11,000  as  the  average  per  acre  of  the 
former  and  9,000  of  the  latter,  we  have  respectively 
$440.00  per  acre  for  "  Wakefield "  and  $450.00  for 
"  Early  Summer."  These  are  the  wholesale  prices  for 
large  markets  like  New  York.  In  smaller  cities,  where 
the  product  is  sold  direct  to  the  consumer,  one-third 
more  would  likely  be  obtained. 

LATE  CABBAGE. 

•% 

These  are  such  as  mature  during  the  months  of  Sep- 
tember, October,  and  November,  the  seed  for  which  is 
sown  in  open  ground  in  May  or  June.  Perhaps  the  best 
date  for  sowing  for  the  general  crop  is  about  the  ist  of 
June.  We  always  prefer  to  sow  Cabbage  seed  for  this 
purpose  in  rows,  ten  or  twelve  inches  apart,  treading  in 
the  seed  with  the  feet  after  sowing  and  before  covering. 
We  then  level  with  a  rake  lengthwise  with  the  rows,  and 
roll  or  beat  down  with  the  back  of  a  spade,  so  as  to 
exclude  the  air  from  the  soil  and  from  the  seed.  Sown 
in  this  way,  Cabbage  seed  will  come  up  strongly  in  the 
driest  weather,  and  is  less  likely  to  be  afflicted  with  the 
black  flea  than  if  it  made  a  feeble  growth. 

As  the  ground  used  for  late  Cabbage  only  yields  one 
crop,  it  will  not  often  pay,  unless  manure  is  cheap  and 
abundant,  to  use  it  in  the  profusion  required  for  the  early 
Cabbage,  so  that  it  is  usual  to  manure  in  the  hill,  as  is 
done  for  the  early  crop,  with  stable  manure;  but  when 
that  is  not  attainable,  some  concentrated  fertilizer,  such 


HOW   TO   GROW   CABBAGE   AND   CAULIFLOWER.     147 

as  bone  dust  or  guano,  should  be  used,  applying  a  good 
handful  to  each  hill,  but  being  careful,  of  course,  to  mix 
it  well  with  the  soil  for  about  nine  or  ten  inches  deep  and 
wide.  In  this  way  about  300  pounds  per  acre  will  be 
needed,  when  6,000  or  7,000  plants  are  set  on  an  acre. 
In  our  practice,  we  find  nothing  better  than  pure  bone 
dust  and  guano  mixed  together.  For  further  information 
on  this  subject,  see  Essay  on  Manures  and  Modes  of 
Application. 

TRANSPLANTING  CABBAGE. 

In  transplanting  from  the  seed-bed  to  the  open  field  in 
summer,  the  work  is  usually  done  in  a  dry  and  hot  sea- 
son, (the  end  of  June  or  July;)  and  here,  again,  we  give 
our  oft-repeated  warning  of  the  absolute  necessity  of 
having  every  plant  properly  firmed.  If  the  planting  is 
well  done  with  the  dibber,  it  may  be  enough;  but  it  is 
often  not  well  done,  and  as  a  measure  of  safety  it  is 
always  best  to  turn  back  on  the  rows  after  planting,  and 
press  alongside  of  each  plant  with  the  foot.  This  is 
quickly  done,  and  it  besides  rests  the  planter,  so  that  he 
can  with  greater  vigor  start  on  the  next  row. 

In  some  sections  of  the  country,  particularly  in  the 
New  England  States,  six  or  eight  Cabbage  seeds  are  put 
in  the  hills,  and  when  the  plants  are  of  the  height  of  two 
or  three  inches  they  are  thinned  out  to  one  plant  in  each 
hill.  This  we  think  not  only  a  slower  method,  but  is 
otherwise  objectionable,  inasmuch  as  it  compels  us  to 
place  the  manure  in  the  ground  for  three  or  four 
weeks  before  the  plant  can  take  it  up,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  three  or  four  weeks'  culture  necessary  to  be  done 
before  the  seedlings  in  the  hill  get  to  the  size  of  the 
plants  when  set  out. 

The  cultivation  of  late  Cabbage  is  in  all  respects  similar 


148  GARDEN   AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

to  that  of  early,  except  that  it  is  usually  planted  alone. 
The  work  is  done  entirely  by  the  horse  cultivator,  the 
rows  and  plants  in  the  rows  being,  according  to  the  kind, 
from  twenty-four  to  thirty  inches  apart.  There  are  a 
great  number  of  kinds  offered  in  the  different  seed  lists, 
but  experienced  cultivators  confine  themselves  to  but  very 
few  kinds.  These  I  give  in  the  order  in  which  they 
are  most  approved:  "  Henderson's  Selected  Flat  Dutch," 
"American  Drumhead,"  and  " Marblehead  Mammoth." 

In  addition  to  these,  the  "American  Drumhead  Savoy" 
is  grown  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  it  is  really  sur- 
prising that  it  is  not  grown  to  the  exclusion  of  nearly  all 
other  sorts,  as  it  attains  nearly  as  much  weight  of  crop, 
and  is  much  more  tender  and  finer  in  flavor.  The 
"Green  Scotch"  and  "Brown  German  Kale"  belong  to 
the  Cabbage  family,  but  do  not  form  heads.  The  curled 
leaves  of  the  whole  plant  can  be  used,  and  are,  like  the 
"  Savoy,"  much  finer  in  flavor  than  the  plain  head  Cab- 
bages, particularly  after  having  been  subjected  to  the 
frost  in  fall. 

KEEPING  CABBAGES  IN  WINTER. 

There  are  various  methods  of  doing  this.  It  is  best  to 
leave  them  out  as  late  as  possible,  so  that  they  can  be 
lifted  before  being  frozen  in.  In  this  latitude,  they  can 
be  safely  left  out  until  the  third  week  in  November. 
They  are  then  dug  or  pulled  up,  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  soil,  and  turned  upside  down  (the  roots  up,  the 
heads  down)  just  where  they  have  been  growing,  and  the 
heads  placed  closely  together  in  beds,  six  or  eight  feet 
wide,  with  alleys  of  about  the  same  width  between,  care 
being  taken  to  have  the  ground  leveled,  so  that  the  Cab- 
bages will  set  evenly  together. 


HOW    TO    GROW    CABBAGE    AND    CAULIFLOWER.      149 

They  can  be  left  in  this  way  for  three  or  four  weeks, 
or  as  long  as  the  ground  remains  so  that  it  can  be  dug 
in  the  alleys  between  the  beds,  the  soil  from  which  is 
thrown  in  on  the  beds  of  Cabbage,  so  that,  when  finished, 
they  have  a  covering  of  six  or  seven  inches  of  soil,  or 
sufficient  to  cover  the  roots  completely  up.  Sometimes 
they  are  covered  up  immediately  on  being  lifted,  by  plow- 
ing a  furrow,  shoveling  it  out  wide  enough  to  receive  the 
heads,  then  plowing  so  as  to  covei  up,  and  so  on  till  beds 
six  or  eight  feet  wide  are  thus  formed.  This  plan  is  the 
quickest,  but  it  has  the  disadvantage,  if  the  season  proves 
mild,  of  having  the  Cabbages  covered  up  too  soon  by  the 
soil,  and  hence  there  is  more  danger  of  decay.  After 
the  ground  is  frozen,  stable  litter,  straw,  or  leaves,  to  the 
depth  of  three  or  four  inches,  should  be  thrown  over  the 
Cabbage  beds,  so  as  to  prevent  excessive  freezing,  and  to 
facilitate  the  getting  at  the  Cabbages  in  hard  weather. 

INSECTS. 

The  insects  that  attack  the  Cabbage  tribe  are  various, 
and  for  some  of  them  I  regret  £o  say  that  we  are  almost 
helpless  in  arresting  their  ravages.  Young  Cabbage 
plants  in  fall,  or  in  hot-beds  in  spring,  are  often  troubled 
with  the  Aphis,  or,  as  it  is  popularly  known,  the  "  Green 
Fly  "  or  "  Green  Louse."  This  is  easily  destroyed  by  hav- 
ing the  plants  dusted  over  once  or  twice  with  tobacco 
dust.  This  same  insect,  of  a  blue  color,  is  often  disas- 
trous to  the  growing  crop  in  the  field;  and  on  its  first 
appearance,  tobacco  dust  should  be  applied,  as,  of  course, 
if  the  Cabbages  are  headed  up,  it  could  not  be  used. 

Another  insect  which  attacks  them  in  these  stages  is  a 
species  of  slug  or  small  caterpillar;  a  green,  glutinous  in- 
sect, about  one-fourth  or  one-half  of  an  inch  in  length. 


150  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

This  is  not  quite  so  easily  destroyed  as  the  other,  but  will 
succumb  to  a  mixture  of  one  part  white  hellebore  to  four 
parts  lime  dust,  sprinkled  on  thick  enough  to  slightly 
whiten  the  plants.  This  same  remedy  I  have  found  to 
be  the  most  efficacious  in  preventing  the  ravages  of  the 
Black  Flea,  or  "Jumping  Jack,"  that  is  often  so  destructive 
to  Cabbage  plants  sown  or  planted  in  the  open  ground 
during  May  and  June;  but  in  this  case  its  application 
may  have  to  be  repeated  daily,  often  for  two  weeks. 

Another  most  troublesome  insect  is  the  Cabbage  Cater- 
pillar, which  attacks  the  crop  often  when  just  beginning 
to  head.  This  is  the  larva  of  a  species  of  small  yellow 
butterfly,  which  deposits  its  eggs  on  the  crop  in  May  or 
June.  When  fields  of  Cabbage  are  isolated,  or  where 
neighbors  can  be  found  to  act  in  unison,  the  best  plan  is 
to  catch  the  butterflies  with  an  insect-catching  net  as 
soon  as  they  show  themselves.  This  is  the  most  effective 
and  quickest  way  to  get  rid  of  them.  However,  if  that 
has  been  neglected,  the  caterpillar  can  be  destroyed  by 
dusting  white  hellebore  on  the  Cabbages;  but,  of  course, 
this  cannot  be  done  when  the  heads  are  matured  enough 
to  be  ready  to  use,  as  the  hellebore  is  to  some  extent 
poisonous,  though,  used  when  the  plants  are  about  half 
grown,  it  will  do  no  harm,  as  the  rains  will  have  washed 
it  sufficiently  off  by  the  time  they  head  up. 

A  correspondent  from  Michigan  recommends  a  solution 
of  common  alum,  made  by  dissolving  one  pound  of  alum 
in  three  gallons  of  water.  This,  he  says,  will  effectually 
destroy  the  Cabbage  Worm  on  Cabbage.  I  have  not  yet 
had  an  opportunity  to  test  it,  but  it  seems  a  rational 
remedy,  and  has  the  advantage  of  being  cheap  and  of  not 
being  poisonous  to  human  beings.  The  solution  is  best 
made  by  dissolving  the  alum  in  boiling  water,  and  then 
adding  cold  water  to  make  it  of  the  requisite  strength. 


HOW    TO    GROW    CABBAGE    AND    CAULIFLOWER.     151 

It  should  be  sprinkled  over  the  Cabbage  or  Cauliflower 
plants  every  two  or  three  days  until  the  worms  have  dis- 
appeared. It  is  also  recommended  for  all  plants  that  are 
affected  by  worms  or  caterpillars. 

The  insects  here  described  are  not,  probably,  all  that 
afflict  the  Cabbage  crop.  A  letter  just  received  from  a 
gentleman  in  Montgomery,  Alabama,  says  that  the  young 
Cabbage  plants  in  that  region  are  often  swept  off  in 
twenty-four  hours  by  a  small  green  worm;  a  species  of 
slug  or  caterpillar,  no  doubt.  The  remedy  for  all  such 
is  white  hellebore  powder,  which  had  better  be  dusted  on 
the  plants  once  a  week  as  a  preventive,  before  the  insect 
makes  its  appearance.  In  fact,  all  remedies  against  in- 
sects are  best  used  as  preventives,  or,  at  least,  on  the  very 
first  appearance  of  the  pests. 

But  the  insect  enemies  that  attack  the  roots  of  the  Cab- 
bage are  not  so  easy  to  destroy.  In  fact,  with  the  Wire 
Worm  and  Cabbage  Maggot  we  are  almost  helpless,  so 
far  as  my  experience  has  gone.  For  the  latter,  which  is  the 
worst  enemy,  a  remedy  has  recently  been  recommended 
to  me,  which,  as  yet,  I  have  had  no  opportunity  to  test. 
It  is  to  make  a  hole  with  the  dibber,  five  or  six  inches 
deep,  close  to  the  root  of  each  plant,  and  drop  into  it 
nine  or  ten  drops  of  bi-sulphide  of  carbon,  and  closing 
up  the  hole  again.  An  observing  market  gardener  from 
central  New  York  has  saved  his  Cabbage  and  Cauliflower 
plants  from  the  maggots  for  years  by  observing  that  the 
eggs  are  laid  close  to  the  stem  of  the  Cabbage.  When 
half  grown,  the  maggots  are  no  larger  than  a  pin's  head, 
and  are  loosely  attached  to  the  stems  of  the  Cabbage.  One 
movement  of  the  finger  displaces  them,  and  no  further 
harm  ensues.  The  eggs  are  deposited  by  a  fly  about  half 
the  size  of  the  common  house  fly,  usually  here  about  the 
middle  of  May,  when  the  Cabbage  starts  to  grow.  Last 


152  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

year  the  Cabbage  and  Cauliflower  in  our  "trial  grounds" 
were  attacked  by  the  Cabbage  Maggot  at  the  roots  early 
in  May.  A  small  handful  of  Peruvian  guano  was  at  once 
strewn  around  each  plant  and  hoed  in  around  the  roots. 
This  at  once  started  an  unusual  vigor  of  growth,  which 
sustained  the  plants  until  they  matured  excellent  heads. 
Understand,  the  guano  probably  did  not  injure  the  in- 
sect; it  only  enabled  the  Cabbage  to  outgrow  its  attack. 

CLUB  ROOT. 

For  the  destruction  of  the  insect  which  causes 
the  excrescence  known  as  "club  root"  in  Cabbage, 
a  heavy  dressing  of  lime  in  fall  and  spring  will 
check  it  to  a  great  extent.  In  fact,  on  lands 
adjacent  to  the  shores  of  New  York  Bay,  where  the 
soil  is  mixed  with  oyster  shell,  "club  root"  is  rarely 
seen.  Cabbage  having  been  grown  on  some  fields  suc- 
cessively for  fifty  years  without  a  trace  of  it  being  seen, 
showing  that  the  insect  that  causes  the  "club  root "  can- 
not exist  in  contact  with  lime;  for  it  is  found  that  on 
lands  where  there  is  no  oyster  shell  deposit,  a  quarter  of 
a  mile' distant,  Cabbages  cannot  be  grown  two  years  in 
succession  on  the  same  land,  unless  heavily  dressed  with 
lime,  and  even  then  it  is  always  deemed  safest  never  to 
plant  Cabbages  two  years  in  succession  on  the  same 
ground;  for  while  such  crops  as  Onions  show  but  little 
benefit  by  rotation  with  other  crops,  Cabbages,  perhaps 
more  than  anything  else,  are  benefited  by  such  alterna- 
tion. When  it  can  be  done,  nothing  is  better  than  to  let 
the  Cabbage  crop  be  alternated  with  grasses,  such  as 
German  Millet,  Timothy,  or  Clover,  or  a  crop  of  Oats  or 
Rye.  This  is  the  method  pursued  by  many  of  the  Long 
Island  market  gardeners,  who  grow  for  the  New  York 


HOW    TO    GROW    CABBAGE    AND    CAULIFLOWER.     153 

market,  where  their  lands^  are  cheap  enough  to  allow 
them  to  do  so;  but  the  gardeners  of  Hudson  County, 
New  Jersey,  which  is  in  sight  of  New  York  city,  whose 
lands  now  are  limited  in  area,  and  for  which  an  average 
of  $50.00  per  acre  rent  is  paid  per  annum,  cannot  well 
afford  to  let  their  lands  lay  thus  comparatively  idle,  and 
in  consequence  do  not  now  raise  as  fine  crops  as  the  lands 
thus  "rested  "  by  the  grass  or  grain  crops. 

If  the  land  for  the  Cabbage  crop  is  of  a  kind  suitable 
to  grow  a  good  crop  of  Corn  or  Potatoes,  and  is  tilled  or 
fertilized  in  the  manner  advised,  it  is  rare  indeed  that  a 
crop  will  fail  to  head,  if  the  plants  are  in  good  condition, 
and  have  been  properly  planted,  unless  they  are  attacked 
by  the  maggot  or  "club  root."  In  our  trial  grounds, 
where  over  a  hundred  different  stocks  of  Cabbage  are 
tested  each  year,  we  have  found  that  every  kind  of  Cab- 
bage tested,  early  or  late,  has  produced  solid  heads, 
showing  that  when  the  conditions  are  right  all  kinds  of  Cab- 
bages will  head  up  and  produce  a  crop. 

A  circumstance  came  under  our  notice  in  the  summer 
of  1882,  which  well  illustrates  the  necessity  for  care  in 
planting.  We  had  sold,  some  time  in  February,  a  large 
lot  of  our  "  Early  Summer  "  Cabbage  seed  to  two  market 
gardeners  in  Rochester,  N.  Y.  The  orders  were  filled 
from  the  same  bag  of  seed.  Some  time  about  the  end  of 
June  one  of  the  men  wrote,  saying  that  he  had  evidently 
got  some  spurious  kind  of  Cabbage  from  us,  as  his 
neighbor  was  marketing  his  crop,  while  in  his  field  of  ten 
acres  he  had  not  a  head  fit  to  cut,  nor  were  there  any 
appearance  of  their  ever  doing  so,  he  thought.  Investi- 
gation showed  that  no  maggot,  "  club  root,"  or  other 
insect  was  affecting  the  roots;  the  land  was  nearly  iden- 
tical with  that  which  had  made  a  successful  crop,  and 
had  been  equally  well  manured  and  cultivated.  So  the 


154  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

only  probable  solution  of  the  matter  was,  that  the  plants 
in  the  case  of  failure  had  been  loosely  planted,  and  had 
failed  to  make  a  prompt  start,  as  in  the  other  case  where 
the  planting  had  been  properly  done,  so  that,  while  the 
one  lot  advanced  without  a  check,  the  growth  of  the 
other  lot  was  arrested.  This  was  most  likely  to  have 
been  the  case,  for  there  could  be  no  cause  for  the  differ- 
ence unless  on  some  such  hypothesis. 

But  there  was  a  fortunate  sequel  to  the  case.  It  luckily 
happened  that  a  heavy  rain  storm  occurred  while  the 
Cabbages  were  yet  in  this  unheaded  condition.  This 
started,  as  it  were,  a  second  growth,  which  resulted  in 
their  forming  splendid  heads  by  August  ist,  at  a  time 
when  Cabbages  were  scarce,  which,  luckily  for  the  owner, 
brought  a  much  higher  price  than  they  would  had  they 
matured  at  the  proper  season,  in  June  or  July.  In  fact, 
the  head  that  obtained  our  $20  prize  for  the  best  "  Early 
Summer  Cabbage  in  1882  was  cut  from  this  lot,  and 
weighed  twenty  pounds.  The  result  was  fortunate  for  us, 
who  had  sold  the  seed;  for,  had  not  rain  come  so  oppor- 
tunely, the  crop  might  never  have  headed  up,  and  it 
would  then  have  been  hard  to  convince  the  man.  that  he 
had  not  been  furnished  with  spurious  seed. 


CAULIFLOWER. 

WHAT  has  been  advised  for  Cabbage  crops,  either 
early  or  late,  is  exactly  the  culture  necessary  for  a  crop 
of  Cauliflower,  except  that  Cauliflower,  being  a  plant  of 
more  delicate  constitution,  requires  to  be  more  carefully 
handled.  For  instance,  where  the  Cabbage  plants  in  the 
cold  frames  will  keep  safely  over  winter  in  this  latitude, 
with  no  covering  but  the  glass  sash.  Cauliflower  plants 


GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

require  the  use  of  straw  mats  over  the  sashes,  as  the 
plant  is  much  more  easily  hurt  by  frost.  In  fact,  it  is 
better  never  to  keep  the  plants  through  the  winter;  those 
sown  in  February,  and  transplanted  into  cold  frames  in 
March,  and  planted  in  the  open  ground  in  April,  as 
recommended  for  spring-sown  Early  Cabbage,  being 
better.  The  plants,  however,  must  be  started  early 
enough,  so  that  they  can  be  set  out  not  later  than  the 
middle  of  April;  for  if  not  rooted  well  before  warm 
weather  sets  in,  they  will  either  "button,"  (that  is,  form 
small,  stunted  flowers,)  or  else  fail  entirely  to  head  up. 
Cauliflower  delights  in  a  cool  atmosphere,  and  never 
does  well  when  the  season  is  hot  and  dry,  unless  complete 
irrigation  can  be  given  when  the  plant  is  about  half 
grown.  If  this  can  be  done  the  crop  is  certain.  We 
ourselves  grew  in  this  manner  nearly  an  acre  for  many 
years,  the  crop  selling  for  an  average  of  $1,200  per  acre 
annually,  and  that  was  before  we  had  introduced  the 
now  famous  variety  known  as  "  Hendersons  Early  Snow- 
ball" which  is  ahead  of  all  other  kinds  in  its  certainty  to 
make  a  crop.  The  next  in  succession  to  this  is  the 
"  Early  Erfurt,"  which  is  again  succeeded  by  the  "Early 
Paris,"  but  neither  of  these  in  any  respect  is  equal  to  the 
"  Snowball."  For  late  crop  the  varieties  known  as 
"Algiers" -and  "Erfurt"  are  the  kinds  usually  grown. 
The  plants  are  obtained  by  sowing  at  the  same  dates  as 
for  late  Cabbages.  It  is  planted  three  feet  each  way,  and 
cultivated  exactly  as  late  Cabbages,  and  often  sells  as 
high  as  $25.00  per  100  in  November  and  December.  We 
are  of  the  opinion,  however,  that  the  "  Snowball,"  of 
which  twice  the  number  can  be  grown  per  acre,  will 
prove  a  more  profitable  crop,  even  for  late,  than  the 
"  Algiers,"  as  it  is  certainly  more  certain  to  form  heads. 
It  is  not  once  in  twenty  years  that  a  variety  of  vegetables 


HOW    TO   GROW   CABBAGE   AND   CAULIFLOWER.     157 

or  fruit  makes  such  an  advance  in  earliness  and  quality 
as  this  "Snowball"  Cauliflower,  and  we  have  much 
satisfaction  in  the  knowledge  that  we  were  the  first  to 
bring  it  into  cultivation,  about  five  years  ago.  It  is  now 
grown  to  almost  the  entire  exclusion  of  all  other  early 
kinds  of  Cauliflower  in  this  country,  and  hundreds  have 
succeeded,  both  North  and  South,  in  raising  a  crop  from 
this  variety,  who  had  previously  completely  failed  with 
all  other  kinds. 

In  Cauliflowers,  as  in  Cabbages,  it  is  folly  to  attempt 
the  experiment  of  many  kinds.  Long  experience  has 
taught  us  that  two  or  three  of  each,  for  early  and  second 
early,  are  all  sufficient.  Although  our  seed  catalogues 
enumerate  scores  of  kinds,  gardeners,  who  know  what 
they  are  about,  fight  shy  of  all  except  those  whose  merit 
has  been  proved  beyond  any  question  of  a  doubt.  For 
this  reason,  we  only  give  the  names  of  such  as  we  know 
to  be  the  best. 

There  are  few  vegetables  that  we  cultivate  that  are  so 
eccentric  in  their  modes  of  development  as  the  Cauli- 
flower, and  many  market  gardeners  have,  to  their  sorrow, 
lost  entire  crops  by  experimenting  here  with  untried 
kinds.  One  of  our  best  New  Jersey  market  gardeners 
being  over  in  England  a  few  years  ago,  procured  seed  of 
a  variety  of  Cauliflower  that  was  exclusively  used  as  the 
best  for  the  London  market.  To  be  safe  he  got  stock  of 
it  from  three  different  market  gardeners,  the  seed  being 
raised  from  the  stock  they  were  then  marketing.  He 
sowed  the  seed,  and  planted  out  about  an  equal  number 
of  plants  of  each,  together  with  a  lot  of  Snowball.  All 
were  sown  and  planted  exactly  alike.  The  "  London 
Market "  grew  neany  three  feet  high,  but  did  not  form 
one  head  in  twenty,  and  these  were  late,  while  from  the 
"Snowball"  lot  nearly  every  head  was  marketable, 


158  GARDEN   AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

maturing  ten  days  earlier.  In  all  probability,  however, 
in  the  cooler  climate  of  England  the  "  London  Market " 
would  have  proved  better  than  the  "  Snowball." 


GROWING    AND    PRESERVING    OF    CELERY.  159 

EBS  ITT 


ON  THE  GROWING  AND  PRESERVING 

OF 

CELERY  FOR  WINTER. 


THE  seeds  are  sown  on  a  well-pulverized,  rich  border, 
in  the  open  ground,  as  early  in  the  season  as  the  ground 
can  be  worked.  (For  instructions  in  sowing,  see  article 
headed  "  Use  of  the  Feet  in  Sowing  and  Planting.")  The 
bed  is  kept  clear  of  weeds  until  July,  when  the  plants  are 
set  out  for  the  crop.  But  as  the  seedling  plants  are 
rather  troublesome  to  raise,  when  for  private  use  only, 
and  as  they  can  usually  be  purchased  cheaper  than  they 
can  be  raised  on  a  small  scale,  it  is  scarcely  worth  while 
to  sow  the  seed.  But  when  wanted  in  quantity,  the  plants 
should  always  be  raised  by  the  grower,  as  Celery  plants 
are  not  only  difficult  to  transplant,  but  are  usually  too 
expensive  to  buy  when  the  crop  is  grown  to  sell. 

PLANTING  ON  THE  SURFACE. 

The  European  plan  is  to  make  a  trench  six  or  eight 
inches  deep  in  which  to  plant  the  Celery;  but  our  violent 
rain  storms  in  summer  soon  showed  us  that  this  plan  was 
not  a  good  one  here,  so  we  set  about  planting  on  the 
level  surface  of  the  ground,  just  as  we  do  with  all 
vegetables. 

Celery  requires  an  abundance  of  manure,  which,  as 
usual  with  all  other  crops,  must  be  well  mixed  and  in- 


l6o  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

corporated  with  the  soil  before  the  Celery  is  set  out. 
When  the  ground  is  well  prepared,  we  stretch  a  line  to 
the  distance  required,  walk  on  it,  or  beat  it  slightly  with 
a  spade,  so  that  it  leaves  a  mark  to  show  where  to  place 
the  plants.  These  are  set  out  at  distances  of  six  inches 
between  the  plants,  and  usually  four  feet  between  the 
rows,  when  the  Celery  is  to  be  "  banked  "  up  for  early  or 
fall  use;  but  when  grown  for  winter  use,  from  two  to 
three  feet  between  the  rows  are  sufficient.  Great  care 
must  be  taken,  in  putting  out  the  Celery,  to  see  that  the 
plant  is  set  just  to  the  depth  of  the  roots;  if  much  deeper, 
the  "heart"  might  be  too  much  covered  up,  which 
would  impede  the  growth.  It  is  also  important  that  the 
soil  be  well  packed  to  the  roots  in  planting,  and  this  we 
do  by  returning  on  each  row,  after  planting,  and  pressing 
the  soil  against  each  plant  firmly  with  the  feet;  and  if 
the  operation  can  be  done  in  the  evening,  and  the  plants 
copiously  watered,  no  further  attention  will  be  required, 
particularly  if  the  soil  has  been  freshly  dug  or  plowed. 

HANDLING  AND  BANKING  UP. 

Planting  may  be  done  at  any  time  from  the  25th  of 
July  to  the  first  week  in  August.  After  planting,  noth- 
ing is  to  be  done  but  keep  the  crop  clear  of  weeds  until 
September.  By  that  time  the  handling  process  is  to  be 
begun,  which  consists  in  drawing  the  earth  to  each  side 
of  the  Celery,  and  pressing  it  tightly  to  it,  so  as  to  give 
the  leaves  an  upward  growth  preparatory  to  blanching 
for  use. 

Supposing  this  handling  process  is  done  by  the  middle 
of  September,  by  the  first  week  in  October  it  is  ready  for 
"  banking  up,"  which  is  done  by  digging  the  soil  from 
between  the  rows,  and  laying  or  banking  it  up  with  the 


GROWING    AND    PRESERVING    OF   CELERY.  l6l 

spade  on  each  side  of  the  row  of  Celery.  After  being  so 
banked  up  in  October,  it  will  be  ready  for  use  in  three  or 
four  weeks,  if  wanted  at  that  time.  But  if,  as  in  most 
cases,  it  is  needed  for  winter  use  only,  and  is  to  be  put 
away  in  trenches,  or  in  the  cellar,  as  will  hereafter  be 
described,  all  that  it  requires  is  the  operation  of  "  hand- 
ling." If  the  Celery  is  to  be  left  in  the  open  ground 
where  it  was  grown,  then  a  heavy  bank  must  be  made  on 
each  side  of  the  rows,  and  as  cold  weather  approaches, 
(say  in  this  latitude  by  the  middle  of  November,)  an 
additional  covering  of  a  least  a  foot  of  leaves  or  litter 
must  be  closely  packed  against  the  bank,  to  protect  it 
from  frost;  but  it  is  not  safe  to  leave  it  in  the  banks 
where  it  grows,  in  any  section  of  the  country  where  the 
temperature  gets  lower  than  10°  above  zero. 

PRESERVING  IN  CELLARS. 

Perhaps  the  best  way  to  keep  Celery  for  family  use  is 
in  a  cool  cellar.  This  can  be  done  by  storing  it  in  narrow 
boxes,  of  a  depth  a  little  less  than  the  height  of  the 
Celery.  A  few  inches  of  sand  or  soil  are  placed  in  the 
bottom  of  the  box,  and  the  Celery  is  packed  upright,  the 
roots  being  placed  on  the  sand  or  soil  at  the  bottom;  but 
no  sand  or  soil  must  be  put  between  the  stafks  of  the  Celery \ 
all  that  is  needed  being  the  damp  sand  on  the  bottom  of 
the  box;  the  meaning  of  which  is,  that  before  Celery  will 
blanch  or  whiten,  it  must  first  start  at  the  root;  hence 
the  necessity  of  placing  the  roots  on  an  inch  or  so  of 
damp  sand. 

Boxes  thus  packed  and  placed  in  a  cool  cellar  in 
November  will  be  blanched  fit  for  use  during  January, 
February,  and  March;  though  for  succession  it  will  be 
better  to  put  it  in  the  boxes,  from  the  open  ground,  at 


l62  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

three  different  times,  say  October  25th,  November  loth, 
and  November  2oth.  If  the  boxes,  however,  are  not  at 
hand,  the  Celery  may  be  put  away  on  the  floor  of  the 
cellar,  in  strips  of  eight  or  nine  inches  wide,  divided 
by  boards  of  a  width  equal  to  the  height  of  the  Celery. 
That  is,  if  the  Celery  is  two  feet  High,  the  boards  separ- 
ating it  must  be  about  the  same  height.  The  reason  for 
dividing  the  Celery  in  these  narrow  strips  by  boards  is  to 
prevent  heating,  which  would  occur  if  placed  together 
in  too  thick  masses.  The  dates  above  given  apply,  of 
course,  to  the  latitude  of  New  York;  if  further  south,  do 
the  work  later;  if  further  north,  earlier. 

PRESERVING  IN  TRENCHES. 

If  one  has  no  suitable  cellar,  the  Celery  can  be  very 
readily  preserved  in  the  manner  followed  by  market 
gardeners.  Thus,  after  it  has  been  "  handled "  or 
straightened  up,  as  before  described,  what  is  intended 
for  use  by  Christmas  should  be  dug  up  about  October 
25th;  that  to  be  used  in  January  and  February,  by 
November  loth;  and  that  for  March  use,  by  November 
2oth,  which  latter  date  is  as  late  as  it  can  be  risked  here. 
Although  it  will  stand  quite  a  sharp  frost,  the  weather  by 
the  end  of  November  is  often  severe  enough  to  kill  it,  or 
so  freeze  it  in  the  ground  that  it  cannot  be  dug  up.  The 
ground  in  which  it  is  to  be  preserved  for  winter  use  must 
be  as  dry  as  possible,  and  so  arranged  that  no  water  can 
remain  in  the  trench.  Dig  a  trench  as  narrow  as  pos- 
sible, (it  should  not  be  wider  than  ten  inches,)  and  of  a 
depth  equal  to  the  height  of  the  Celery;  that  is,  if  the 
plant  of  Celery  be  eighteen  inches  high,  the  trench 
should  be  dug  eighteen  inches  deep.  The  Celery  is  then 
packed  exactly  in  the  manner  described  for  storing  in 


GROWING    AND    PRESERVING    OF    CELERY.  163 

boxes  to  be  placed  in  the  cellar;  that  is,  stand  it  as  near 
upright  as  possible,  and  pack  as  closely  together  as  can 
be  done  without  bruising  it.  No  soil  or  sand  must  be 
put  between  the  stalks.  As  the  weather  becomes  cold, 
the  trenches  should  be  gradually  covered  with  leaves  or 
litter  to  the  thickness  of  six  or  eight  inches,  which  will  be 
enough  to  prevent  severe  freezing,  and  enable  the  roots 
to  be  taken  out  easily  when  wanted. 

Another  method  now  practised  by  the  market  gardeners 
of  New  Jersey  is  as  follows  :  before  the  approach  of 
very  cold  weather,  (say  the  middle  of  December,)  the 
Celery  in  the  trenches  is  pressed  somewhat  closely 
together  by  passing  a  spade  down  deeply  alongside  of 
the  trench  on  each  side,  but  about  three  or  four  inches 
from  the  Celery.  It  is  best  done  by  two  men,  so  that 
they  press  against  each  other,  thus  firming  the  top  of  the 
Celery  in  the  trench  until  it  is  compact  enough  to  sustain 
a  weight  of  three  or  four  inches  of  soil,  which  is  taken 
from  the  sides  of  the  trench  and  spread  over  the  Celery. 
This  earth  covering  keeps  it  rather  fresher  than  the 
covering  of  litter,  though,  on  the  approach  of  cold 
weather,  the  earth  covering- is  not  sufficient,  and  a  cover- 
ing of  six  or  seven  inches  of  leaves  must  yet  be  placed 
over  the  earth  covering. 

VARIETIES  TO  GROW. 

From  200  to  500  roots  are  usually  required  for  use 
by  an  ordinary  family.  The  varieties  I  recommend  are 
the  Half  Dwarf,  Golden  Dwarf,  Sandringham,  White 
Walnut,  and  London  Red.  The  red  is  as  yet  but  little 
used  in  this  country,  though  the  flavor  is  better,  and  the 
plant  altogether  hardier  than  the  white.  A  new  variety, 
known  as  the  Parsley  leaved,  has  just  been  introduced, 


164  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

which  will  be  very  useful  for  table  decoration,  as  well  as 
for  all  purposes  for  which  Celery  is  used,  as  it  is  equally 
as  good  as  any  of  the  others. 

RUST. 

I  am  often  asked  for  the  cause  of  and  remedy  for 
Celery  rusting  or  burning.  The  cause,  I  think,  is  the 
condition  of  the  weather,  which  destroys  the  tender 
fibers,  or  what  are  called  the  working  roots  of  the  plant; 
for  I  find  it  is  usually  worse  in  seasons  of  extreme 
drought  or  moisture,  particularly  in  warm  weather.  It 
is  exceedingly  necessary,  however,  to  have  the  land 
thoroughly  pulverized  before  planting,  as  I  have  reason 
to  believe  that  this  being  imperfectly  done  often  tends 
greatly  to  increase  the  tendency  to  rust. 

I  know  of  no  remedy,  nor  do  I  believe  there  is  any. 
I  may  say,  however,  that  it  is  less  liable  to  appear  on 
new,  fresh  soils,  that  are  free  from  acids  or  sourness, 
than  on  old  soils  that  have  been  surfeited  with  manure, 
and  have  had  no  rest. 

PITH. 

Although,  under  ordinary  conditions,  if  proper  varie- 
ties of  Celery  are  used,  the  crop  should  never  be  pithy  or 
hollow,  yet  I  have  found  that  now  and  then  even  the 
most  solid  kinds  of  Celery  have  become  more  or  less 
hollow  when  planted  in  soft,  loose  soils,  such  as  reclaimed 
peat  bogs,  where  the  soil  is  mostly  composed  of  leaf 
mould.  In  fact,  on  heavy  or  clayey  soils  the  Celery,  and 
all  other  vegetables,  will  be  specifically  heavier  than  on 
lighter  soils. 


GROWING    AND   PRESERVING    OF   CELERY.  165 


THE  NEW  CELERY,  "  WHITE  PLUME." 

This  season,  (1884,)  for  the  first  time,  is  introduced  a 
new  kind  of  Celery,  that  we  feel  satisfied  will  so  simplify 
its  culture,  that  the  most  inexperienced  can  now  grow 
Celery,  blanched  in  the  proper  condition  for  the  table, 
just  as  easily  as  a  Cabbage  or  Lettuce.  The  peculiarity 
of  the  Celery  known  as  u  White  Plume  "  is,  that  naturally 
its  stalks  and  portions  of  its  inner  leaves  are  white,  so 
that,  by  closing  the  stalks,  either  by  tying  them  up  with 
matting,  or  by  simply  drawing  the  soil  up  against  the 
plant  and  pressing  it  together  with  the  hands,  and  again 
drawing  up  the  soil  with  the  hoe  or  plow,  so  as  to  keep 
the  soil  that  has  been  squeezed  against  the  Celery  in 
its  place,  the  work  of  blanching  is  completed;  while  it  is 
well-known  that  in  all  other  kinds  of  Celery,  in  addition 
to  this,  the  slow  and  troublesome  process  of  "  banking  " 
with  the  spade  is  a  necessity. 

Another  great  merit  of  the  "  White  Plume  "  Celery  is, 
that  it  far  exceeds  any  known  vegetable  as  an  ornament 
for  the  table,  the  inner  leaves  being  disposed  somewhat 
like  an  ostrich  feather,  so  as  to  suggest  the  name  we 
have  given  it  of  "  White  Plume." 

It  is  well  known  that  one-half  the  value  of  a  Celery, 
particularly  in  our  best  hotels  and  restaurants,  is  held  to 
be  its  fitness  as  a  table  ornament,  and  for  this  purpose 
this  new  variety  is  admirably  fitted.  In  addition  to  this, 
its  eating  qualities  are  equal  to  the  very  best  of  the  older 
sorts,  being  crisp,  solid,  and  having  that  nutty  flavor 
peculiar  to  the  "  Walnut "  and  some  of  the  red  sorts. 
Altogether,  I  cannot  find  words  sufficient  to  describe 
its  many  merits  as  it  deserves. 

The   great  bugbear  in  the  cultivation  of   Celery,  by 


i66 


GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


THE  NEW  CELERY,    "WHITE  PLUME 


GROWING    AND    PRESERVING    OF    CELERY.  167 

those  engaged  in  growing  it  for  market,  has  been  the 
labor  entailed  in  the  "banking"  to  whiten  or  blanch  it; 
and  with  the  unskilled  amateur  growing  a  few  hundred 
for  private  use,  the  troublesome  process  of  "  banking*' 
has  usually  been  a  detriment  sufficient  to  prevent  him 
from  trying.  Now  he  can  grow  this  new  sort,  as  I 
have  before  stated,  just  as  easily  as  Cabbage  or  Lettuce. 
In  the  first  week  of  October  of  1882,  the  Celery  banks  in 
Hudson  County,  New  Jersey,  must  have  cost  at  least 
$15,000  in  labor  to  erect;  but  a  rain  storm  of  twenty- 
four  hours'  duration  washed  the  banks  down  and  de- 
stroyed the  work  of  weeks.  Had  this  new  Celery  been 
under  process  of  blanching,  no  high  banks  would  have 
been  needed,  and  the  storm  would  have  been  nearly 
harmless,  as  the  "  wash  "  would  have  done  but  a  trifling 
injury. 

But  absolute  perfection  is  hardly  to  be  expected  in  any- 
thing, and  the  "White  Plume  "  Celery  has  one  drawback; 
the  very  qualities  that  make  its  culture  so  simple  in  the 
fall  and  early  winter  months,  unfit  it  for  a  late  Celery 
that  will  keep  until  spring,  as  its  tenderness  and  crisp- 
ness  of  structure  cause  it  to  rot  quicker  than  the  old 
green  kinds;  but  for  use  during  the  months  of  October, 
November,  December,  and  the  early  part  of  January,  I 
advise  it  to  be  grown,  if  the  saving  of  labor  and  quality 
be  considerations.  It  is  equally  as  hardy  against  frost  as 
the  other  kinds.  In  size  and  weight  it  is  very  similar  to 
those  popular  kinds,  the  "Golden  Dwarf "  and  "Half 
Dwarf;"  in  fact,  it  originated  in  what  is  known  as 
a  "  sport "  from  the  "  Half  Dwarf;"  that  is,  a  sin- 
gle plant  showed  the  whiteness  of  stem  and  peculiar 
feathery  leaves,  which,  fortunately,  were  permanently 
reproduced  from  seed,  and  gave  us  this  entirely 
new  type  of  Celery.  Its  culture  is  in  all  respects 


l68  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

the  same  as  that  directed  for  the  other  sorts,  with  the  ex- 
ception that  we  are  saved  the  trouble  of  high  "banking." 
Last  season  a  few  thousand  bunches  were  sold  for  the  first 
time  in  the  New  York  markets,  and  were  quickly  disposed 
of  at  nearly  double  the  price  of  the  ordinary  sorts  of  the 
same  size.  It  was  purchased  exclusively  by  the  purveyors 
for  the  leading  hotels,  and,  from  its  beautiful  appearance, 
created  an  interest  in  this  vegetable  which  never  had  been 
shown  before.  Its  only  drawback,  as  I  have  said,  is  that, 
from  its  tenderness,  it  will  not  keep  as  well  into  late  win- 
ter as  the  green  sorts;  but  as  it  can  be  had  in  perfection 
through  the  Christmas  holidays,  the  time  when  Celery  is 
in  greater  demand  than  at  any  other  season,  if  will  with- 
out doubt  at  once  be  largely  grown,  and  grown  to  supply 
the  holiday  demand,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  kinds. 


STRAWBERRY   CULTURE.  169 


STRAWBERRY  CULTURE. 


OUR  system  of  growing  Strawberries  from  pot  layers 
has  now  extended  all  over  the  country,  and  particularly 
in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States.  There  is  no  question 
that  it  is  by  far  the  most  simple  and  satisfactory  for 
private  use,  if  it  is  not  also  for  market. 

Strawberries  will  grow  on  almost  any  soil,  but  it  is 
all-important  that  it  be  well  drained,  either  naturally  or 
artificially;  in  fact,  this  is  true  for  the  well-being  of  nearly 
all  plants,  as  few  do  well  on  soils  where  the  water  does 
not  freely  pass  off.  - 

Thorough  culture  requires  that  the  soil  should  be  first 
dug  or  plowed,  then  spread  over  with  at  least  three 
inches  of  thoroughly  rotted  stable  manure,  which  should 
be  dug  or  plowed  under,  so  far  as  practicable,  to  mix  it 
with  the  soil.  If  stable  manure  cannot  be  had,  artificial 
manure,  such  as  bone  dust,  etc.,  should  be  sown  on  the 
dug  or  plowed  ground,  thick  enough  to  nearly  cover  it, 
then  harrowed  or  chopped  in  with  a  fork,  so  that  it  is 
well  mixed  with  the  soil  to  at  least  six  inches  in  depth. 
This,  then,  is  the  preliminary  work  before  planting,  to 
insure  a  crop  the  next  season  after  planting,  or  in  nine 
or  ten  months. 

POT  LAYERS. 

The  plants  must  be  such  as  are  layered  in  pots,  and  the 
sooner  they  are  planted  out  after  the  i5th  of  July,  the 
better,  although,  if  not  then  convenient,  they  will  produce 
a  crop  the  next  season,  even  if  planted  as  late  as  the 


170  GARDEN   AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

middle  of  September;  but  the  sooner  they  are  planted 
the  larger  will  be  the  crop.  They  may  be  set  from  pot 
layers  either  in  beds  of  four  rows  each,  fifteen  inches 
apart,  and  fifteen  inches  between  the  plants,  leaving  two 
feet  between  the  beds  for  pathway;  or  be  set  out  in  rows 
two  feet  apart,  the  plants  in  the  rows  fifteen  inches  apart; 
and  if  the  plants  are  properly  set  out,  (care  being  taken 
to  firm  the  soil  around  the  plant,  which  is  best  done  by 
pressing  the  soil  against  each  plant  with  the  foot,)  not 
one  plant  in  a  thousand  of  Strawberry  plants  that  have 
been  grown  in  pots  will  fail  to  grow. 

For  the  first  three  or  four  weeks  after  planting  noth- 
ing need  be  done  except  to  hoe  the  beds,  so  that  all 
weeds  are  kept  down.  Be  careful  to  do  this  once  in 
every  ten  days;  for  if  the  weeds  once  get  a  start,  it  will 
treble  the  labor  of  keeping  the  ground  clean.  If  Straw- 
berries are  grown  on  a  large  scale,  by  all  means  use  a 
wheel  hoe,  such  as  the  "  Gem  "  or  "  Universal,"  which 
will  save  four-fifths  of  the  labor  of  hoeing,  and  do  the 
work  better.  In  about  a  month  after  planting  they  will 
begin  to  throw  out  runners,  all  of  which  must  be  pinched 
or  cut  off  as  they  appear,  so  that  by  the  end  of  the  growing 
season  (ist  of  November)  each  plant  will  have  formed  a 
complete  bush  one  foot  or  more  in  diameter,  having  the 
necessary  matured  "  crowns  "  for  next  June's  fruit. 

MULCHING. 

By  the  middle  of  December  the  entire  beds  of  Straw- 
berry plants  should  be  covered  up  with  salt-meadow  hay 
(straw,  leaves,  or  anything  similar  will  do  as  well)  to  the 
depth  of  two  or  three  inches,  entirely  covering  up  the 
plants  and  soil,  so  that  nothing  is  seen  but  the  hay.  By 
April,  the  plants  so  protected  will  show  indications  of 


STRAWBERRY   CULTURE.  17 1 

growth,  when  the  hay  around  each  plant  is  pushed  a  little 
aside,  to  assist  it  in  getting  through  the  covering,  so  that 
by  May  the  fully  developed  plant  shows  on  the  clean 
surface  of  the  hay.  This  mulching,  as  it  is  called,  is 
indispensable  to  the  best  culture,  as  it  protects  the  plants 
from  cold  in  winter,  keeps  the  fruit  clean,  keeps  the 
roots  cool  by  shading  them  from  the  hot  sun  in  June,  and 
at  the  same  time  saves  nearly  all  further  labor  after 
being  once  put  on,  as  few  weeds  can  push  through  it. 

NEW  BEDS  EVERY  YEAR. 

By  this  method  I  prefer  to  plant  new  beds  every  year, 
though,  if  desired,  the  beds  once  planted  may  be  fruited 
for  two  or  three  years,  as  by  the  old  plans;  but  the  fruit 
the  first  season  will  always  be  the  largest  in  size,  if  not 
greatest  in  number.  Another  advantage  of  this  system 
is  that,  where  space  is  limited,  there  is  quite  time  enough 
to  get  a  crop  of  Potatoes,  Pease,  Beans,  Lettuce,  Rad- 
ishes, or,  in  fact,  any  summer  crop  off  the  ground  first 
before  planting  the  Strawberries,  thus  taking  two  crops 
from  the  ground  in  one  year,  if  desired,  and  there  is  also 
plenty  of  time  to  crop  the  ground  with  Cabbage,  Cauli- 
flower, Celery,  or  other  fall  crop  after  the  crop  of  Straw- 
berries has  been  gathered. 

How  TO  MAKE  POT  LAYERS. 

The  plan  of  getting  the  pot  layers  of  Strawberries  is 
very  simple.  Just  as  soon  as  the  fruit  is  gathered,  if  the 
beds  are  well  forked  up  or  deeply  cultivated  by  a  wheel 
hoe  between  the  rows,  the  runners  or  young  plants  will 
begin  to  grow,  and  in  two  weeks  will  be  fit  to  layer  in 
pots.  The  pots,  which  should  be  from  two  to  three 


172  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

inches  in  diameter,  are  filled  with  the  soil  in  which  the 
Strawberries  are  growing,  and  "  plunged  "  or  sunk  to 
the  level  of  the  surface;  the  Strawberry  layer  is  then  laid 
on  the  pot,  and  held  in  place  with  a  small  stone.  The 
stone  not  only  serves  to  keep  the  plant  in  its  place,  so 
that  its  roots  will  strike  into  the  pot,  but  it  also  serves  to 
mark  where  each  pot  is;  for,  being  sunk  to  the  level  of 
the  surface,  rains  wash  the  soil  around  the  pots,  so  that 
they  could  not  well  be  seen  unless  marked  by  the  stone. 

In  ten  or  twelve  days  after  the  Strawberry  layers  have 
been  put  down  the  pots  will  be  filled  with  roots.  They 
are  then  cut  from-  the  parent  plant,  placed  closely 
together,  and  shaded  and  watered  for  a  few  days  before 
being  planted  out.  Some  plant  them  out  at  once  when 
taken  up,  but,  unless  the  weather  is  very  suitable,  some 
loss  may  occur  by  this  method;  by  the  other  plan,  how- 
ever, of  hardening  them  for  a  few  days,  not  one  in  a 
thousand  will  fail. 

I  find  that  in  hot,  dry  weather  it  is  of  great  benefit  to 
plants  newly  planted  to  place  along  each  side  of  them  a 
mulch  of  either  rough  manure,  dried  grass  from  the  lawn 
that  has  been  cut  by  the  mowing  machine,  or  any  such 
material  that  will  act  as  a  non-conductor,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  rays  of  the  hot  sun  striking  down  on  and  drying  and 
heating  up  the  bare  soil.  If  properly  planted  and 
mulched  by  some  such  material,  no  water  need  ever  be 
used  in  the  hottest  or  driest  weather. 

I  planted  out  on  the  i$th  of  August  the  past  season 
over  ten  thousand  pot-grown  Strawberry  plants,  mulched 
them  in  this  way  with  dried  grass  cut  by  machine  from 
the  lawn,  and,  although  we  gave  no  water,  and  had  not 
a  drop  of  rain  for  thirty  days,  yet  nearly  every  plant  has 
made  a  growth  that  is  certain  to  give  a  full  crop  of 
Strawberries  next  season,  as  at  present  date  of  writing 


STRAWBERRY    CULTURE.  173 

(November  1st)  the  plants  set  out  in  August  are  nine 
inches  in  diameter,  with  three  to  six  crowns.  This 
mulching  after  planting  is  equally  beneficial  to  Celery  or 
any  other  crop  that  it  is  necessary  to  plant  during  the 
hot  and  dry  months  of  July,  August,  and  September. 

FIELD  CULTURE. 

Strawberries  for  field  culture  are  usually  planted  from 
the  ordinary  layers,  either  in  August  and  September  in 
the  fall,  or  in  March,  April,  or  May  in  the  spring.  They 
are  usually  planted  in  rows,  two  to  three  feet  apart,  and 
nine  to  twelve  inches  between  the  plants.  In  planting, 
every  plant  should  be  well  firmed,. or  great  loss  is  almost 
certain  to  ensue,  as  the  Strawberry  is  a  plant  always 
difficult  to  transplant.  They  are  usually  worked  by  a 
horse  cultivator,  and  generally  two  or  three  crops  are 
taken  before  the  beds  are  plowed  under;  but  the  first 
crop  given  (which  is  in  the  second  year  after  planting) 
is  always  the  best.  The  same  care  must  be  taken  as  in 
planting  by  pot  layers,  the  ground  kept  clear  of  weeds,  and 
the  runners  pinched  or  cut  off  to  make  fruiting  crowns. 

By  the  usual  field  method  of  culture,  it  will  be  seen 
that  there  is  a  loss  of  one  season  in  about  three;  for  in 
the  year  of  planting  no  fruit,  of  course,  is  produced,  and 
for  this  reason  I  incline  to  the  belief  that,  if  a  portion 
were  set  aside  to  produce  early  plants,  so  that  pot  layers 
could  be  set  out  by  the  i5th  of  July,  a  full  crop  of  the 
finest  fruit  could  be  had  every  season,  and  with  less  cost, 
I  think;  for  the  only  labor  after  planting  is  to  keep  the 
ground  clean  and  pinch  off  the  runners,  from  July  to 
October,  with  the  certainty  of  getting  a  full  crop  next 
June,  or  in  less  than  a  year  from  the  time  of  planting, 
while  by  planting  by  ordinary  layers,  if  planted  in 


174  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

August,  we  have  three  months  of  fall  culture,  and  six  or 
seven  months  of  the  next  summer's  culture,  before  a  crop 
is  produced.  Again,  if  the  crop  is  continued  to  fruit  the 
second  or  third  year,  every  one  who  has  had  experience 
with  the  nature  of  the  plant,  knows  that  the  labor  of 
keeping  the  plants  free  from  weeds  is  enormous;  while 
by  the  pot  layering  method  of  taking  a  fresh  crop  each 
year,  all  such  labor  is  dispensed  with. 

KINDS  OF  STRAWBERRIES. 

Although  it  is  difficult  to  give  any  list  of  kinds  of 
Strawberries  that  will  do  well  under  all  conditions,  yet, 
taking  the  suburbs  of  New  York  as  a  standard,  (which, 
with  its  great  variety  of  soil,  is  likely  to  be  as  good  as 
any  other,)  I  find  that  the  best  ten  kinds,  having  the 
greatest  combination  of  good  qualities,  that  I  can  select 
from  a  collection  of  fifty  leading  sorts,  are  the  following, 
which  are  named  in  the  order  of  their  excellence  : 

JERSEY  QUEEN. — 
This  variety  was  sold 
for  the  first  time  in  the 
fall  of  1 88 1,  and  is,  in 
my  opinion,  unequaled  ( 
by  any  variety  of  Straw- ' 
berry  thus  far  intro- 
duced. The  size  is 
immense,  often  meas- 
uring six  inches  in 
circumference.  Shape, 

roundish  conical;  color,  JERSEY  QUEEN. 

a  beautiful  scarlet  crimson;  perfectly  solid,  and  of  excel- 
lent flavor.  It  is  an  immense  bearer,  many  plants  aver- 
aging a  quart  of  first  quality  fruit.  It  is  one  of  the  latest. 


STRAWBERRY    CULTURE.  175 

the  crop  in  this  vicinity  being  in  perfection  about  the  25th 
of  June,  while  the  average  crop  of  Strawberries  is  at  its 
best  by  the  i5th  of  June  in  the  locality  of  New  York. 

LONGFELLOW  IMPROVED. — A  seedling  raised  by  a 
blacksmith  named  Adams,  of  Hudson  County,  New 
Jersey.  It  is  the  most  beautiful  Strawberry  I  have  ever 
seen.  It  was  admired  as  the  finest  in  the  exhibit  of  over 
two  hundred  sorts  at  the  New  York  Horticultural  Society's 
rooms  in  June  of  1883.  It  is  of  the  largest  size;  a  dark, 
glossy  crimson,  with  prominent  golden  seeds,  and  of 
excellent  flavor. 

PRINCE  OF  BERRIES. — A  seedling  of  Mr.  Durand's, 
who  has  never  introduced  anything  that  has  not  proved 
good.  This  one  is  of  large  size,  deep  crimson  color,  and 
of  excellent  flavor. 

BIDWELL. — One  of  the  very  best,  abundantly  pro- 
ductive, large  size,  excellent  flavor,  and  one  of  the  very 
earliest.  Plants  set  out  from  pot  layers  on  August  5th, 
1880,  had  fruit  ripe  June  5th,  1881,  ten  months  from 
date  of  planting.  The  plants  averaged  one  quart  of 
fruit  each.  There  is  one  fault  of  the  Bidwell;  it  is  so 
enormously  productive,  that  if  the  soil  is  poor  half  of  the 
berries  often  fail  to  mature. 

NECTAR. — Another  new  kind  that  will  be  offered  for 
the  first  time  this  year,  (1884.)  It  is  of  fine  appearance, 
full  average  size,  and  a  richness  of  flavor  surpassing 
anything  yet  in  cultivation. 

SHARPLESS. — With  the  exception  of  Jersey  Queen,  the 
largest  and  one  of  the  heaviest  berries  of  this  collection. 
It  is  of  fine  flavor,  a  good  bearer,  and  has  now  become 
a  standard  sort. 

JUCUNDA. — This  is  an  old,  well-known  sort,  possessing 
so  many  good  qualities,  that  I  place  it  as  one  of  the  best 
ten  in  preference  to  scores  of  others  of  later  origin.  It  is 


i76 


GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


of  full  average  size,  wonderfully  productive,  of  great 
beauty  of  color  and  form,  and  excellent  flavor;  but  its 
distinctive  value  is  in  its  ripening,  extending  from  the 
earliest  to  the  latest  season  of  the  crop,  the  first  berries 
being  ripe  here  about  June 
4th,  and  extending  unto 
July  4th.  In  some  soils 
it  is  rather  a  weak  grower. 

DOWNING. — One  of  the 
best  of  theolder  sorts,  com- 
bining allthebest  qualities, 
being  large,  early,  rich  in 
color  and  flavor,  and  abun- 
dantly productive. 

MANCHESTER. — A  new 
variety  introduced  in  1882. 
It  is  a  most  abundant  bear- 
er, of  good  size   and  fair  MANCHESTER. 
flavor,  and  will  likely  prove  a  good  market  sort. 

GLOSSY  CONE.— Although  this  has  been  grown  by  the 
raiser,  Mr.  Durand,  for  many  years,  it  was  issued  first  in 
1881.  In  a  test  of  fifty  kinds  in  our  grounds,  I  found  it 
the  earliest  of  all,  except  Bidwell,  very  prolific,  of  good 
size,  fine  flavor,  and  altogether  has  a  combination  of  good 
qualities  rarely  found  in  any  early  Strawberry.  Its  only 
fault  is,  that  it  is  rather  a  weak  grower,  and  requires 
a  rich  and  rather  heavy  soil  to  develop  its  best  qualities. 

I  am  often  asked  the  number  of  Strawberry  plants  that 
it  is  necessary  to  plant  for  the  use  of  a  private  family. 
The  best  answer  to  this  is  to  state  that,  under  ordinary 
culture  by  the  pot  layer  plant,  one  hundred  plants  will 
give  twenty-five  quarts.  The  crop  runs  over  a  period  of 
from  twelve  to  fifteen  days,  so  that  purchasers  with  this 
knowledge  will  be  the  best  judges  of  the  number  needed. 


ROD 


FOR    FARM    STOCK. 


ROOT  CROPS 


177 


FARM     STOCK, 

BY    PETER    HENDERSON. 
(From  the  American  Agriculturist  of  April,  1878.) 


WHILE  "Mangels"  and  other  roots  for  stock  feeding 
have  been  largely  cultivated  in  Europe  for  the  past  fifty 
years,  it  is  surprising  how  little  it  is  yet  done  here,  particu- 
larly when  we  know  how  well  our  soil  and  climate  are, 
in  most  sections,  adapted  to  the  purpose,  and  how  great 
are  our  necessities,  particularly  in  those  States  where  the 
long,  dry  summers  diminish  the  crop  of  hay  and  other 
fodder  plants.  The  most  important  root  crop  for  stock 
is  the  Mangel-wurzel,  which,  I  believe,  can  be  grown  and 
matured  in  any  good  soil  in  any  state  in  the  Union.  As 
with  all  root  crops,  a  loose,  friable  soil,  with  a  sandy  or 
gravelly  subsoil,  is  better  adapted  to  it  than  a  stiff  soil 
with  a  clayey  subsoil.  All  root  crops  require  deep  cul- 
ture. The  soil  should  always  be  plowed  to  the  depth  of 
ten  inches,  and,  if  it  can  be  done,  it  will  pay  well  to  let 
the  subsoil  plow  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  other,  and  stir 
the  subsoil  ten  inches  more,  making  a  loosened  depth  of 
twenty  inches. 

In  many  of  our  deep,  rich,  new  soils  an  excellent  crop 
of  Mangels,  or  other  roots,  can  be  grown  without  manure; 
but,  when  necessary  to  use  it,  nothing  is  better  than  well- 
rotted  stable  manure,  composted  with  as  much  muck  or 


!78  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

turf  from  roadsides,  spread  evenly  over  the  surface  before 
plowing,  at  the  rate  of  from  six  to  twelve  tons  per  acre. 
In  the  absence  of  stable  manure,  bone  dust,  superphos- 
phate, or  guano  should  be  applied,  at  the  rate  of  from  300  to 
500  pounds  per  acre;  but  all  such  concentrated  fertilizers 
should  be  sown  on  the  surface,  after  plowing,  and  har- 
rowed in,  until  thoroughly  mixed  with  the  soil.  Before 
sowing,  the  ground  should  be  smoothed  as  evenly  as 
possible  with  the  back  of  the  harrow,  to  present  a  smooth 
and  level  surface  for  the  reception  of  the  seed. 

The  distance  apart  between  the  rows  for  Mangels  will 
vary  with  the  character  of  the  soil.  In  light,  sandy  soils, 
the  rows  should  be  twenty-four  inches  apart,  with  nine 
inches  between  the  plants;  but  in  strong,  rich,  deep  soils, 
the  rows  should  be  thirty  inches  apart  and  twelve  inches 
between  the  plants.  This  is  what  is  termed  the  "  flat 
culture."  Mr.  Wm.  Crozier,  of  Northport,  L.  I.,  works 
on  an  entirely  different  plan  from  this,  and  his  success  in 
producing  enormous  crops  shows  it  to  be  well  worthy  of 
imitation.  After  thoroughly  plowing,  harrowing,  and 
smoothing  the  land,  he  strikes  out  furrows  with  the 
double  mould-board  plow,  (if  this  is  not  obtainable,  any 
plow  that  will  make  such  a  furrow  will  do,)  thirty  inches 
apart.  The  furrow  is  six  to  seven  inches  deep.  These 
furrows  are  then  half  filled  up  with  a  compost  made  from 
stable  manure  and  turf  parings  from  the  roadside,  about 
equal  parts,  thoroughly  mixed  and  decomposed,  or,  if  yet 
rough  and  unrotted,  it  is  pressed  down  in  the  rows  with 
the  feet.  After  the  manure  has  been  thus  placed  in  the 
furrows,  the  plow  is  run  up  between  on  each  side,  so  as  not 
only  to  cover  in  the  manure,  but  to  raise  a  ridge  as  high 
as  the  furrow  was  deep.  These  ridges  are  now  run  over 
with  a  roller  or  light  chain  harrow,  so  as  to  take  off  or 
flatten  down  two  or  three  inches  of  the  apex,  and  so 


ROOT    CROPS    FOR    FARM    STOCK. 


179 


broaden  the  ridge  as  to  allow  the  seed  sower  to,  work  on 
it  to  deposit  the  seed.  Where  stable  manure  is  not  ob- 
tainable, Mr.  Crozier  recommends  blood  and  bone  fer- 
tilizer, or  bone  dust,  sown 
in  the  furrows  at  the  rate 
of  about  300  pounds  to 
the  acre;  but  where  such 
fertilizers  are  used,  the 
ridge  over  the  furrows 
should  not  be  raised  so 
high  as  over  the  manure. 
About  eight  pounds  of 
seed  are  used  to  the  acre, 
if  put  in  with  the  "  Planet " 
or  other  seed  drill;  when 
sown  by  hand,  fully  double 
that  quantity  would  be 
required  per  acre.  The 
seed  ranges,  according  to 
the  season  and  the  variety, 
from  forty  to  eighty  cents 
per  pound.  Mr.  Meggat, 
the  extensive  seed  raiser 
of  Connecticut,  recom- 
mends that,  in  using  the 
seed  sower,  the  hopper 
S7  should  never  be  more  than 
^two-thirds  filled,  and 
should  never  have  any  lid 
or  cover,  so  that  the  oper- 
ator can  see  its  action,  and 
should  be  shaken  clear  of 
all  dust  as  it  accumulates, 
NORBITON  QIANT  MANGEL  wuRZEL.  so  that  the  seed  may  be 


i  So 


GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 


evenly  distributed.  When  the  plants  are  up,  they  are  to  be 
thinned  to  twelve  or  fourteen  inches  apart,  and  the  land  is 
well  cultivated,  so  that,  before  the  crop  covers  the  ground, 
the  ridges  have  been  so  leveled  down  that  the  rows  of 

roots  are  nearly  as 
low  as  the  spaces 
between.  The 
ridge  system  of 
culture,  both  for 
Mangels  and  Tur- 
nips, although  it 
requires  more  la- 
bor, is  a  saving  in 
manure,  and  there 
is  no  doubt  that 
these  crops  are 
greatly  benefited 
by  having  the  soil 
gradually  taken 
from  the  ridge  by 
the  cultivator,  and 
exposing  their 
roots,  or  "bulbs," 
to  the  air. 

The  best  time  for 
sowing,  in  the  lati- 
tude of  New  York, 
is  from  May  ist  to 
the  i5th.  The  time 
must,  of  course, 
be  varied  according  to  locality.  Probably  the  best  guide 
in  all  sections  is  to  sow  from  eight  to  ten  days  before  the 
time  that  Corn  is  usually  planted.  The  varieties  most 
used  are  the  "Long  Red"  and  "  Norbiton  Giant,"  (red 


KINVER  YELLOW   GLOBE   MANGEL. 


ROOT  CROPS  FOR  FARM  STOCK.         l8l 

varieties,)  and  the  "Yellow  Ovoid"  and  "New  Kinver 
Globe,"  both  yellow  kinds.  The  average  weight  of  the 
crop  of  an  acre  of  Mangels  is  forty  tons;  though  in  some 
soils  they  have  yielded  double  that  weight.  Of  course, 
their  cash  value,  as  compared  with  hay,  (rating  hay  at 
$15  per  ton,)  will  vary  largely  under  different  circum- 
stances, but  Mr.  William  Crozier  considers  the  average 
value  of  Mangels,  for  stock-feeding  purposes,  to  be  $4 
per  ton,  or  $160  per  acre.  While  hay  would  be,  under 
the  same  condition,  (estimating  two  tons  per  acre,)  only 
worth  $30  per  acre,  the  expense  of  seed,  manure,  and 
cultivation  of  the  Mangels,  at  the  utmost,  need  not  exceed 
$80  per  acre;  so  it  is  clearly  seen  that  the  crop  for  feed- 
ing purposes  is  a  profitable  one. 

TURNIP  CULTURE. 

What  has  been  said  on  the  modes  of  culture  for  Man- 
gels may  be  applied  to  Turnip  culture,  except  as  to  the 
time  of  sowing.  The  Swedish  or  Ruta  Baga  varieties  of 
Turnip  should  be  sown,  in  this  latitude,  from  May  25th 
to  June  25th,  and  the  Yellow  Aberdeen,  or  strap-leaved 
kinds,  from  July  ist  to  the  middle  of  August.  When 
sown  at  these  dates,  the  distance  apart  may  be  the  same 
as  for  Mangels,  but  both  of  the  classes  may  be  sown  a 
month  later;  that  is,  the  Ruta  Bagas  may  be  sown  from 
June  25th  to  July  25th,  and  the  strap-leaved  kinds  from 
the  middle  of  August  to  the  middle  of  September;  but 
when  sown  thus  late  they  should  be,  both  between  rows 
and  between  plants,  one-third  closer.  The  varieties  that 
I  find  best  are,  "American  Ruta  Baga"  and  "  Purple-top 
Ruta  Baga;"  of  the  strap-leaved  kinds,  "Red-top  Strap- 
leaved  "  and  "  Yellow  Aberdeen."  Mr.  Crozier's  estimate 
of  the  value  of  Ruta  Bagas,  as  compared  with  hay,  (at 


1 82  GARDEN    AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

$15  per  ton,)  is  $5  per  ton;  average  crop,  25  tons  pef 
acre,  or  $125.  Purple-top  Strap-leaved  or  Yellow  Aber- 
deen Turnips  he  estimates  at  $3.50  per  ton;  average  crop, 
35  tons  per  acre,  or  $122.50.  Estimating  the  expense  of 
culture  at  half  the  gross  value,  we  have  still  a  large  mar- 
gin in  favor  of  the  crop;  besides,  the  strap-leaved  Turnips 
can  be  sown  after  Barley,  Oats,  or  Rye. 

CARROTS. 

Carrots  may  properly  come  under  the  head  of  "  Root 
Crops  for  Stock,"  though  mainly  grown  for  horses;  but, 
even  for  horses,  Mr.  Crozier  says  that  he  considers  them 
far  inferior  to  Ruta  Baga  Turnips.  This  is  in  opposition 
to  the  received  notion;  but  we  know  that  public  opinion 
in  matters  of  this  sort  is  often  wrong,  and  when  we  con- 
sider the  marked  success  of  Mr.  Crozier  as  a  raiser  of 
both  horses  and  cattle,  his  opinion  in  this  matter  is  en- 
titled to  consideration. 

The  land  for  Carrots  should  be  prepared  exactly  as  for 
Mangels.  It  must  be  deeply  plowed,  harrowed,  and 
thoroughly  pulverized,  and  whatever  kind  of  fertilizing 
material  is  used,  should  be  thoroughly  mixed  with  the 
soil  to  a  depth  of  at  least  ten  inches.  The  same  quantity 
and  kind  of  fertilizers  should  be  used  as  recommended 
for  the  flat  culture  of  Mangels,  though  in  new  lands,  or 
lands  on  which  Corn  has  been  grown  after  sod,  enough 
of  the  fertilizing  material  will  usually  be  left  in  the  soil 
to  mature  a  good  crop  of  Carrots  without  any  manure, 
provided  the  soil  is  deep  and  in  good  condition.  I  once 
grew  twenty  tons  of  Carrots  per  acre  on  land  in  this  con- 
dition, without  using  a  particle  of  manure.  Carrots  should 
be  sown  from  the  ist  to  the  3oth  of  May,  and  when  sown 
by  a  seed  drill,  about  four  pounds  of  seed  to  the  acre  are 


ROOT  CROPS  FOR  FARM  STOCK.         183 

required.  The  rows  should  be  two  feet  distant,  and  the 
plants  thinned  out  to  five  or  six  inches  apart.  An  average 
crop  is  fifteen  tons,  of  the  "  Long  Orange  "  variety,  to 
the  acre,  and  the  present  price  averages  $15  per  ton  in 
the  New  York  market.  The  "  White  "  or  "  Yellow  Bel- 
gian "  Carrots  would  give  one-third  more  weight,  but  the 
quality  is  inferior  and  the  price  correspondingly  lower. 

KEEPING  ROOTS  IN  WINTER. 

One  of  the  seeming  obstacles  to  raising  root  crops  on 
a  large  scale  is  the  lack  of  a  proper  place  for  keeping 
them  in  winter.  A  general  impression  prevails  that  they 
must  be  kept  in  cellars  or  in  a  root  house  specially  built 
for  the  purpose.  There  is  really  no  necessity  for  a  special 
root  house,  as  the  simple  and  cheap  method  of  preserving 
them  in  pits  in  the  open  ground  is  far  better.  I  will 
briefly  describe  my  plan,  which  I  have  practised  with  all 
kinds  of  market  garden  roots  for  twenty-five  years.  Man- 
gels, in  this  section  of  the  country,  are  dug  up  towards 
the  end  of  October,  or  just  after  our  first  slight  frost. 
They  are  then  temporarily  secured  from  severe  frosts  by 
placing-  them  in  convenient  oblong  heaps,  say  three  feet 
high  by  six  feet  wide,  and  are  covered  with  three  or 
four  inches  of  soil,  which  will  be  sufficient  protection  for 
three  or  four  weeks  after  lifting;  by  that  time,  say  the 
end  of  November,  they  may  be  stowed  away  in  their  per- 
manent winter  quarters.  For  Turnips  and  Carrots,  there 
is  less  necessity  for  the  temporary  pitting,  as  they  are 
much  hardier  roots,  and  may  be  left  in  the  ground  until 
the  time  necessary  for  permanent  pitting,  if  time  will  not 
permit  of  securing  them  temporarily. 

The  advantage  of  this  temporary  pitting  is,  that  it  en- 
ables them  to  be  quickly  secured  at  a  season  when  work  is 


184  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

usually  pressing,  and  allows  the  period  of  their  permanent 
pitting  to  be  extended  into  a  comparatively  cold  season. 
This  is  found  to  be  of  the  utmost  importance  in  preserving 
all  kinds  of  roots;  the  same  rules  regulating  the  preserva- 
tion in  winter,  apply  as  in  spring  sowing.  While  in  this 
section  of  the  country  it  must  be  done  not  later  than  the 
end  of  November,  in  some  of  the  Southern  States  the 
time  may  be  extended  a  month  later,  while  in  places 
where  the  thermometer  does  not  fall  lower  than  25° 
above  zero,  there  is  no  need  to  dig  up  any  of  these  roots 
at  all,  as  that  degree  of  cold  would  not  injure  them. 

The  permanent  pit  is  made  as  follows :  A  piece  of 
ground  is  chosen  where  no  water  will  stand  in  winter. 
If  not  naturally  drained,  provision  must  be  made  to  carry 
off  the  water.  The  pit  is  then  dug  four  feet  deep  and 
six  feet  wide,  and  of  any  length  required.  The  roots  are 
then  evenly  packed  in  sections  of  about  four  feet  wide, 
across  the  pit,  and  only  to  the  height  of  the  ground  level. 
Between  the  sections  a  space  of  half  a  foot  is  left,  which 
is  filled  up  with  soil  level  to  the  top.  This  gives  a  section 
of  roots  four  feet  deep  and  wide,  and  four  feet  long,  each 
section  divided  from  the  next  by  six  inches  of  soil,  form- 
ing a  series  of  small  pits,  holding  from  six  to  twelve  bar- 
rels of  roots,  one  of  which  can  be  taken  out  without 
disturbing  the  next,  which  is  separated  from  it  by  six 
inches  of  soil. 

SCOTCH  METHOD  OF  WINTERING  ROOTS. 

Mr.  Crozier  practises,  with  great  success,  the  Scotch 
method  of  preserving  root  crops  in  winter,  which  he  thus 
describes  : 

A  dry  spot  being  selected,  where  no  water  will  stand  in 
winter,  a  space  is  marked  out  six  feet  in  width,  and  of  any 


ROOT  CROPS  FOR  FARM  STOCK.         185 

length  required.  This  bed  is  excavated  ten  to  twelve 
inches  deep,  and  the  soil  is  thrown  out  on  the  bank. 
The  roots,  either  Mangels,  Turnips,  Carrots,  or  Potatoes, 
are  built  up  evenly  to  a  sharp  point  about  five  or  six  feet 
in  height,  so  that  the  roots  form  almost  an  equal-sided 
triangle,  six  feet  on  the  sides.  This  bed  of  roots  is  then 
thatched  over  with  four  inches  of  straw,  after  which  the 
earth  is  banked  over  the  whole  about  one  foot  in  thick- 
ness. This  covering  of  earth  and  straw  is  sufficient  to 
keep  out  any  degree  of  frost  that  we  have  in  this  latitude, 
though  we  rarely  have  it  much  below  zero.  In  colder  or 
warmer  sections,  judgment  must  be  used  to  increase  or 
lessen  the  covering.  Vents,  or  chimneys,  made  by  a 
three-inch  drain  pipe,  or  anything  of  similar  size,  are 
placed  every  six  or  seven  feet  along  the  top  of  the  pit, 
resting  on  the  roots,  so  that  the  moisture  generated  may 
escape.  In  extremely  cold  weather,  these  vents  or  chim- 
neys should  be  closed  up,  as  the  cold  might  be  severe 
enough  to  get  down  to  the  roots.  Pits  so  constructed 
rarely  fail  to  preserve  roots  perfectly  until  late  in  spring, 
and  are  in  every  respect  preferable  to  root  cellars;  for, 
no  matter  how  cold  the  weather  may  be,  they  are  easily 
got  at;  the  end  once  opened,  the  soil  forms  a  frozen  arch 
over  the  pit.  Mr.  Crozier  says  he  has  practised  this  plan 
for  years  on  his  farm  at  Northport,  L.  I.,  some  of  his 
pits  containing  hundreds  of  tons  of  Mangels,  etc. 

GARDEN  VEGETABLES. 

There  are  a  number  of  garden  vegetables  that  can  be 
kept  equally  well  by  the  same  method  as  that  recom- 
mended for  farm  roots.  The  only  difference  would 
be,  that  the  pits  may  be  made  somewhat  narrower,  so  as 
to  accommodate  less  quantities.  Although  such  crops 


186  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

as  Parsnips,  Salsify,  and  Horseradish  are  entirely  hardy, 
yet,  as  it  is  often  impossible  to  get  into  the  ground  to 
dig  them  in  winter,  all  that  are  wanted  for  use  before 
spring  opens  should  be  dug  up  in  November,  and  pitted 
in  the  manner  above  described. 

It  is  important  that  these  hardy  roots  be  not  dug  too 
early,  else  they  will  lose  their  color  and  flavor ;  con- 
sequently, digging  should  be  delayed  as  long  as  the 
frost  will  permit.  It  is  a  good  plan,  if  litter  or  leaves 
are  convenient,  to  use  them  for  covering  the  ground 
where  the  roots  are  growing  three  or  four  inches,  so  as 
to  protect  the  roots  against  freezing,  thus  often  extend- 
ing the  period  of  digging  these  hardy  roots  to  the  middle 
of  December.  When  in  the  market  garden  business  we 
often  covered  over  as  much  as  five  acres  in  this  way, 
which  well  repaid  the  labor  by  the  improved  condition  of 
the  roots,  as  frequently  an  advance  of  25  per  cent,  in 
price  was  obtained  by  a  superior  color  and  flavor. 


CULTURE   OF   ALFALFA   OR   LUCERNE.  187 


CULTURE 

OF 

ALFALFA  OR  LUCERNE, 

(Medicago  saliva?) 

(Written  by  Peter  Henderson  for  the  United  States  Agricultural 
*   Report  for  1884.) 


IN  a  country  so  wide  spread  and  diversified  as  the 
United  States,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  crop 
that  is  valued  in  some  localities  is  unknown  in  others. 
But  it  is  somewhat  surprising  that,  in  many  of  the  South- 
ern States,  where  the  want  of  forage  is  so  much  felt,  the 
culture  of  a  plant  so  admirably  adapted  for  their  soil  and 
climate  has  so  long  been  neglected.  In  a  visit  to  Florida 
in  February,  1883,  I  was  impressed,  as  every  Northern 
man  must  be,  with  the  utter  dearth  of  forage  plants,  and, 
as  a  consequence,  the  hungry  and  meager,  starved-look- 
ing  cattle.  To  my  inquiries  everywhere,  the  same  reply 
was  given,  that  no  good  grass  or  clover  could  be  found 
to  stand  the  heat  and  drought  of  their  long  summers. 
Fortunately,  in  alluding  to  the  subject,  while  in  the 
company  of  Mr.  R.  Bronson,  of  St.  Augustine,  Florida, 
he  promptly  showed  a  practical  solution  of  the  difficulty, 
by  taking  me  to  a  patch  of  Alfalfa,  about  twenty-five  feet 
by  one  hundred,  or  only  about  the  one-sixteenth  part  of 
an  acre.  From  that  little  patch,  Mr.  B.  assured  me  that 
he  had  fed  a  cow  during  the  summer  months,  getting  as 
fine  milk  and  butter  as  he  ever  got  North;  and  further 


l88  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

said  that  twice  that  area,  or  one-eighth  part  of  an  acre, 
would  be  ample  to  supply  a  cow  with  food  during  the 
entire  season. 

The  land  used  by  Mr.  Bronson  for  his  experiment  with 
Alfalfa  was  identical  with  the  thousands  of  acres  in  his 
immediate  vicinity,  which  was  given  over  to  the  Blue 
Palmetto  and  scrubby  pines,  through  which  the  goat-like 
cattle  browse  out  a  miserable  existence.  Mr.  Bronson, 
though  only  an  amateur,  is  a  careful  observer,  and  an 
enthusiastic  student  in  everything  that  relates  to  agricul- 
ture. In  the  culture  of  Alfalfa  for*  Florida  and  other 
Southern  latitudes,  he  advises  that  the  crop  be  sown 
early  in  the  fall;  early  enough  to  attain  a  height  of  four 
or  five  inches  before  growth  is  arrested  by  cold  weather; 
in  Florida  say  from  the  ist  to  the  i5th  of  October. 

The  soil  best  suited  for  the  growth  of  Alfalfa  is  that 
which  is  deep  and  sandy;  hence  the  soil  of  Florida  and 
many  other  portions  of  the  cotton  belt  are  eminently 
fitted  for  it.  The  plant  makes  a  tap  root  with  few 
laterals,  and  its  roots  are  often  found  at  a  depth  of  six  to 
eight  feet,  thus  drawing  food  from  depths  entirely  be- 
yond the  action  of  drought  or  heat.  When  Alfalfa  is  to 
be  grown  on  a  large  scale,  to  get  at  the  best  results,  the 
ground  chosen  should  be  high  and  level,  or,  if  not  high, 
such  as  is  entirely  free  from  under  water.  Drainage 
must  be  as  near  perfect  as  possible,  either  naturally  or 
artificially.  This,  in  fact,  is  a  primary  necessity  for  every 
crop,  unless  it  be  such  as  is  aquatic  or  sub-aquatic. 

Deep  plowing,  thorough  harrowing  and  leveling  with 
that  valuable  implement,  the  "smoothing  harrow,"  to 
get  a  smooth  and  level  surface,  are  the  next  operations. 
This  should  be  done,  in  the  Southern  States,  from  the 
ist  to  the  2oth  of  October,  or  at  such  season  in  the  fall 
as  would  be  soon  enough  to  insure  a  growth  of  four  or 


CULTURE   OF   ALFALFA    OR   LUCERNE.  189 

five  inches  before  the  season  of  growth  stops.  Draw  out 
lines  on  the  prepared  land  twenty  inches  apart,  (if  for 
horse  culture,  but  if  for  hand  culture,  fourteen  inches,) 
and  two  or  three  inches  deep.  These  lines  are  best  made 
by  what  market  gardeners  call  a  "  marker,"  which  is 
made  by  nailing  six  tooth-shaped  pickets  six  or  eight 
inches  long,  at  the  required  distance  apart,  to  a  three  by 
four  inch  joist,  to  which  a  handle  is  attached,  which 
makes  the  marker  or  drag.  The  first  tooth  is  set  against 
a  garden  line  drawn  tight  across  the  field;  the  marker  is 
dragged  backward  by  the  workman,  each  tooth  marking 
a  line.  Thus  the  six  teeth  mark  six  lines,  if  the  line  is 
set  each  time;  but  it  is  best  to  place  the  end  tooth  of  the 
marker  in  a  line  already  made,  so  that  in  this  way  only 
five  lines  are  marked  at  once;  but  it  is  quicker  to  do  this 
than  move  the  line. 

The  lines  being  marked  out,  the  seed  is  sown  by  hand 
or  by  seed-drill,  at  the  rate  of  eight  to  twelve  pounds  per 
acre.  (The  price  ranges  from  thirty  to  fifty  cents  per 
pound.)  After  sowing,  (and  this  rule  applies  to  all  seeds, 
if  sown  by  hand,)  the  seed  must  b.e  trodden  in  by  walking  on 
the  lines,  so  as  to  press  the  seed  down  into  the  drills.  After 
treading  in,  the  ground  must  be  leveled  by  raking  with  a 
wooden  or  steel  rake  along  the  lines  lengthways,  not 
across.  That  done,  it  would  be  advantageous  to  use  a 
roller  over  the  land,  so  as  to  smooth  the  surface  and 
further  firm  the  seed;  but  this  is  not  indispensable. 
When  seeds  are  drilled  in  by  a  machine,  the  wheel 
presses  down  the  soil  on  vhe  seeds,  so  that  treading  in 
with  the  feet  is  not  necessary. 

After  the  seeds  germinate  so  as  to  show  the  rows, 
which  will  be  in  from  two  to  four  weeks,  according  to 
the  weather,  the  ground  must  be  hoed  between,  and  this 
is  best  done  by  some  light  wheel  hoe,  if  by  hand,  such  as 


IpO  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

the  "  Universal."  On  light,  sandy  soil,  such  as  in  Florida, 
a  man  could  with  ease  run  over  two  to  three  acres  per 
day.  The  labor  entailed  in  this  method  of  sowing  Alfalfa 
in  drills  is  somewhat  greater  than  when  sown  broadcast 
in  the  usual  way  of  grasses  and  clover,  but  there  is  no 
question  that  it  is  by  far  the  best  and  most  profitable 
plan,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  plant  is  a  hardy 
ferennial,  and  is  good  for  a  crop  for  eight  to  ten  years. 
Moreover,  the  sowing  in  drills  admits  of  the  crop  being 
easily  fertilized,  if  it  is  found  necessary  to  do  so;  as  all 
that  is  necessary  is  to  sow  bone  dust,  superphosphates, 
or  other  concentrated  fertilizer  between  the  rows,  and 
then  stir  it  into  the  soil  by  the  use  of  the  wheel  hoe.  In 
the  ground  of  Mr.  Bronson,  of  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  he 
found  that  the  seed  sown  in  the  middle  of  October  gave 
him  a  crop  fit  to  cut  in  three  months  after  sowing;  and 
three  heavy  crops  after,  during  the  same  year;  and  I 
have  little  doubt  that  in  that  climate  and  soil,  so  congenial 
to  its  growth,  six  heavy  green  crops  could  be  cut  annually ^ 
after  the  plant  is  fairly  established,  if  a  moderate  amount 
of  fertilizer  were  used,  say  300  pounds  of  superphos- 
phate or  bone  dust  to  the  acre. 

Mr.  William  Crozier,  of  Northport,  L.  I.,  one  of  the 
best  known  farmers  and  stock  breeders  in  the  vicinity  of 
New  York,  says  that  he  has  long  considered  Alfalfa  one 
of  the  best  forage  crops.  He  uses  it  always  to  feed  his 
milch  cows  and  breeding  ewes,  particularly  in  preparing 
them  for  exhibition  at  fairs,  where  he  is  known  to  be  a 
most  successful  competitor,  and  always  takes  along  suffi- 
cient Alfalfa  hay  to  feed  them  on  while  there.  Mr.  Cro- 
zier's  system  of  culture  is  broadcast,  and  he  uses  some 
fifteen  or  sixteen  pounds  of  seed  to  the  acre;  but  his  land 
is  unusually  clean  and  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  which 
enables  him  to  adopt  the  broadcast  plan;  but  on  the 


CULTURE    OF    ALFALFA    OR    LUCERNE.  Ipl 

average  land  it  will  be  found  that  the  plan  of  sowing  in 
drills  would  be  the  best. 

Mr.  Crozier's  crop,  the  second  year,  averaged  eighteen 
tons  green  to  the  acre,  and  about  six  tons  when  dried  as 
hay.  For  his  section  (the  latitude  of  New  York)  he  finds 
the  best  date  of  sowing  is  the  first  week  in  May,  and  a 
good  cutting  can  be  had  in  September.  The  next  season 
a  full  crop  is  obtained,  when  it  is  cut,  if  green,  three  or 
four  times.  If  to  be  used  for  hay,  it  is  cut  in  the  condi- 
tion of  ordinary  Red  Clover,  in  blossom.  It  then  makes 
after  that  two  green  crops  if  cut;  and  sometimes  the  last 
one,  instead  of  being  cut,  is  fed  on  the  ground  by  sheep 
or  cattle. 

Mr.  E.  M.  Sargent,  Macon,  Georgia,  writing  to  me 
under  date  March  6th,  1883,  says:  "  I  consider  Alfalfa  to 
be  the  most  valuable  forage  plant  that  can  be  used  in  this 
section  of  the  country;  that  is,  the  entire  cotton  belt,  or 
north  of  it,  if  the  land  is  sandy  without  a  clay  subsoil  too 
near  the  surface.  Planters  are  just  beginning  to  find  out 
its  merits;  and  no  poverty  of  stock  will  ever  occur  where 
Alfalfa  is  raised.  In  the  summer  of  1 88 1,  when  every- 
thing else  was  parched  here  with  heat  and  drought,  this 
alone  was  prompt  in  its  maturity  for  the  mower.  It 
should  be  cut  for  hay  when  in  blossom,  and  can  easily  be 
cut  three  or  four  times  here  wherever  the  land  is  in  fairly 
good  condition. 

"  Those  who  do  not  succeed  with  it,  sow  it  broadcast 
and  surrender  it  to  the  hogs  early  in  the  season.  Those 
who  do  succeed,  sow  in  drills  eighteen  inches  apart  and 
cultivate  early." 

It  will  be  seen  that  Mr.  Sargent  advises  drills  much 
wider  than  I  recommend,  which  I  presume  is  to  admit 
the  horse  hoe,  but  a  quicker  crop  undoubtedly  would  be 
got  at  fourteen  inches  apart;  and  by  use  of  the  hand 


192  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

"  Universal  Wheel  Hoe,"  the  work  could  be  done  on 
light  soil  nearly  as  quickly  as  by  the  horse  cultivator. 

Alfalfa  is  extensively  grown  in  Europe,  particularly  in 
France  and  Germany,  where  it  is  considered  a  valuable 
crop  for  rotation,  and  is  classed  by  the  French  as  one  of 
the  plantes  ameliorantes  ;  for  in  southern  France  Wheat 
has  been  successfully  raised  after  six  or  seven  years  of 
Alfalfa  on  ground  which  formerly  had  failed  to  give  good 
crops  of  Wheat.  Although  Alfalfa  may  be  grown  in  cold 
latitudes  as  well  as  in  warm,  as  the  plant  is  entirely 
hardy,  yet  its  value  is  not  so  marked  in  cold  climates, 
where  it  finds  competitors  in  Red  Clover  and  the  grasses; 
but  in  light  soils  anywhere,  particularly  in  warm  climates, 
its  deep-rooting  properties  make  it  comparatively  in- 
dependent of  moisture;  hence  it  is  the  forage  plant  par 
excellence  for  the  Southern  States,  wherever  the  soil  is 
light  and  sandy;  but  it  should  never  be  grown  on  stiff 
soils,  for,  unless  the  roots  can  penetrate  deeply,  good 
results  cannot  be  expected.  When  it  is  considered  that 
immense  sums  are  paid  annually  for  baled  hay  by  the 
Southern  to  the  Northern  States,  the  wonder  is  how  long 
they  will  continue  to  do  so,  with  the  material  at  hand  to 
produce  a  better  article  at  probably  one-fourth  the  cost. 

At  the  date  of  this  writing,  thousands  in  Florida  and 
other  Southern  States  are  engaged  in  the  culture  of 
Oranges  and  other  fruits,  as  well  as  vegetables,  for  the 
Northern  markets;  and  while  in  specially  favored  loca- 
tions success  has  attended  these  enterprises,  yet  it  is 
doubtful  if  one  in  four  makes  it  profitable;  while,  with 
the  culture  of  this  valuable  forage  plant,  the  vast  sums 
paid  for  northern  hay  would  not  only  be  saved,  but  the 
products  of  the  dairy  would  assume  an  importance  which 
now,  among  most  farmers  in  the  extreme  Southern 
States,  is  altogether  unknown. 


MANURES   AND    THEIR   MODES   OF    APPLICATION.    193 

MANURES 

AND 

THEIR  MODES  OF  APPLICATION. 


THE  subject  of  Manures  is  one  of  the  greatest  importance 
to  every  operator  in  the  soil,  whether  farmer,  market 
gardener,  florist,  or  such  as  cultivate  only  for  their  own 
use,  for  under  few  conditions  can  crops  be  long  grown 
without  the  use  of  fertilizers.  Although  I  have  already 
given  general  instructions  about  fertilizers  in  all  my  works 
on  gardening,  yet  I  find,  from  the  number  of  inquiries 
received  from  even  such  as  have  my  works,  that  the  mat- 
ter has  not  been  there  treated  sufficiently  in  detail  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  varied  conditions  under  which  the 
necessity  for  the  use  of  fertilizers  arises. 

The  comparative  value  of  manures  must  be  regulated 
by  the  cost;  for  example,  if  rotted  Stable  Manure,  whether 
from  horses  or  cows,  can  be  delivered  on  the  ground  at 
$3  per  ton,  it  is  about  as  valuable,  for  fertilizing  purposes, 
as  Peruvian  Guano  at  $65  per  ton,  or  pure  Bone  Dust  at 
$40  per  ton,  and  is  better  than  either  of  these,  or  any 
other  concentrated  fertilizer,  from  the  fact  of  its  mechan- 
ical action  on  the  land,  that  is,  its  assistance,  from  its 
light,  porous  nature,  in  aerating  and  pulverizing  the  soil ; 
Guano,  Bone  Dust,  or  other  commercial  fertilizers,  acting 
only  as  such,  without  in  any  way  assisting  to  make  better 
what  may  be  called  the  physical  condition  of  the  soil. 

All  experienced  cultivators  know  that  the  first  year 
that  land  is  broken  up  from  sod,  if  proper  culture  has 


ip4  GARDEN  AND  FARM  TOPICS. 

been  given,  by  thorough  plowing  and  harrowing,  (pro- 
vided the  land  is  drained  artificially  or  naturally,  so  as  to 
be  free  from  water,  and  relieve  it  from  "  sourness,")  the 
land  is  in  better  condition  for  any  crop,  than  land  that 
has  been  continuously  cropped  without  a  rest.  The 
market  gardeners  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  are  now  so 
well  convinced  of  this  that,  when  twenty  acres  are  under 
cultivation,  at  least  five  acres  are  continually  kept  in  grain, 
clover,  and  grass,  to  be  broken  up  successively,  every 
second  or  third  year,  so  as  to  get  the  land  in  the  condi- 
tion that  nothing  else  but  rotted,  pulverized  sod  will 
accomplish.  This  is  done  in  cases  where  land  is  as  valu- 
able as  $500  per  acre;  experience  having  proved  that, 
with  one-quarter  of  the  land  "  resting  under  grass,"  more 
profit  can  be  got  than  if  the  whole  were  under  culture. 

When  the  rotation,  by  placing  a  portion  of  the  land 
under  grass,  cannot  be  done,  then  it  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  use  Stable  Manure,  at  least  to  some  extent,  if  the 
best  results  are  desired,  for  continuous  cropping  of  the 
soil.  Where  concentrated  fertilizers  only  are  used,  they 
will  not  continue  to  give  satisfactory  results  after  the 
grass  roots,  or  other  organic  matter,  have  passed  from 
the  soil,  all  of  which  will  usually  be  entirely  gone  by  the 
third  or  fourth  year  after  breaking  up.  I  have  long  held 
the  opinion,  that  the  idea  of  lands  having  been  perma- 
nently exhausted  by  tobacco  or  other  crops  is  a  fallacy. 
What  gives  rise  to  this  belief,  I  think,  is  the  fact  that, 
when  lands  are  first  broken  up  from  the  forest  or  meadow 
lands,,  for  three  or  four  years  the  organic  matter  in  the 
soil,  (the  roots  of  grasses,  leaves,  etc.,)  not  only  serves  to 
feed  the  crops,  but  it  keeps  the  soil  in  a  better  state  of 
pulverization,  or  what  might  be  called  aerated  condition, 
than  when,  in  the  course  of  cropping  for  a  few  years, 
it  has  passed  away.  Stable  Manure  best  supplies  this 


MANURES   AND    THEIR   MODES   OF    APPLICATION.    19$ 

want;  but  on  farm  lands  away  from  towns,  it  is  not 
often  that  enough  can  be  obtained  to  have  any  appre- 
ciable effect  on  the  soil,  and  hence  artificial  fertilizers 
are  resorted  to,  which  often  fail,  not  from  any  fault  in 
themselves,  but  from  the  fact  that,  exerting  little  mechani- 
cal influence  on  the  land,  it  becomes  compacted  or  sod- 
den, the  air  cannot  get  to  the  roots,  and  hence  failure  or 
partial  failure  of  crop. 

Thus,  we  see,  that  to  have  the  best  results  from  com- 
mercial fertilizers,  it  is  of  great  importance  to  have  the 
land  "  rested  "  by  a  crop  of  grain  or  grass  every  three  or 
four  years. 

The  best  known  fertilizers  of  commerce  are  Peruvian 
Guano  and  Bone  Dust,  though  there  are  numbers  of 
others,  such  as  Fish  Guano,  Dry  Blood  Fertilizer,  Blood 
and  Bone  Fertilizer,  with  the  various  brands  of  super- 
phosphates, all  of  -more  or  less  value  for  fertilizing  pur- 
poses. It  is  useless  to  go  over  the  list,  and  we  will 
confine  ourselves  to  the  relative  merits  of  pure  Peruvian 
Guano  and  pure  Bone  Dust.  Guano,  at  $65  per  ton,  we 
consider  relatively  equal  in  value  to  Bone  Dust  at  $40 
per  ton,  for  in  the  lower-priced  article  we  find  we  have  to 
increase  the  quantity  to  produce  the  same  results.  What- 
ever kind  of  concentrated  fertilizer  is  used,  we  find  it 
well  repays  the  labor  to  prepare  it  in  the  following  man- 
ner before  it  is  used  on  the  land: 

To  every  bushel  of  Guano  or  Bone  Dust  add  three 
bushels  of  either  leaf  mould,  (from  the  woods,)  welt-pul- 
verized dry  muck,  sweepings  from  a  paved  street,  Stable 
Manure  so  rotted  as  to  be  like  pulverized  muck,  or,  if 
neither  of  these  can  be  obtained,  any  loamy  soil  will  do; 
but  in  every  case  the  material  to  mix  the  fertilizers  with 
must  be  fairly  dry  and  never  in  a  condition  of  mud;  the 
meaning  of  the  operation  being,  that  the  material  used  is 


lg6  GA&DEN  AMD  FARM  TOPICS. 

to  act  as  a  temporary  absorbent  for  the  fertilizer.  The 
compost  must  be  thoroughly  mixed,  and  if  Guano  is 
used,  it  being'  sometimes  lumpy,  it  must  be  broken  up  to 
dust  before  being  mixed  with  the  absorbent. 

The  main  object  of  this  operation  is  for  the  better 
separation  and  division  of  the  fertilizer,  so  that,  when  ap- 
plied to  the  soil,  it  can  be  more  readily  distributed.  My 
experiments  have  repeatedly  shown  that  this  method  of 
using  concentrated  fertilizers  materially  increases  their 
value,  probably  twenty  per  cent.  The  mixing  should  be 
done  a  few  months  previous  to  spring,  and  it  should,  after 
being  mixed,  be  packed  away  in  barrels,  and  kept  in  some 
dry  shed  or  cellar  until  wanted  for  use.  Thus  mixed, 
it  is  particularly  beneficial  on  lawns  or  other  grass  lands. 
The  quantity  of  concentrated  fertilizer  to  be  used  is  often 
perplexing  to  beginners.  I  give  the  following  as  the  best 
rules  I  know,  all  derived  from  my  own  practice  in  growing 
fruits,  flowers,  and  vegetables: 

Taking  Guano  as  a  basis,  I  would  recommend  for  all 
vegetable  or  fruit  crops,  if  earliness  and  good  quality  are 
desired,  the  use  of  not  less  than  1,200  pounds  per  acre, 
(an  acre  contains  4,840  square  yards,  and  cultivators  for 
private  use  can  easily  estimate  from  this  the  quantity  they 
require  for  any  area,)  mixed  with  two  tons  of  either  of 
the  materials  before  recommended.  If  Bone  Dust  is 
used,  about  one  ton  per  acre  should  be  applied,  mixed 
with  three  tons  of  soil  or  the  other  materials  named. 

For  market  garden  vegetable  crops,  in  the  vicinity  of 
New  York,  this  quantity  of  Guano  or  Bone  Dust  is  har- 
rowed in  after  twenty-five  or  thirty  tons  of  Stable  Manure 
have  first  been  plowed  in;  so  that  the  actual  cost  of 
manuring  each  acre  is  not  less  than  $100,  and  often  $150. 

When  fertilizers  are  used  alone,  without  being  mixed 
with  the  absorbent,  they  should  be  sown  on  the  soil  after 


MANURES    AND    THEIR   MODES    OF    APPLICATION.    197 

plowing  or  digging,  about  thick  enough  to  just  color  the 
surface,  or  about  as  thick  as  sand  or  sawdust  is  sown  on 
a  floor,  and  then  thoroughly  harrowed  in  if  plowed,  or, 
if  dug,  chopped  in  with  a  rake.  This  quantity  is  used 
broadcast  by  sowing  on  the  ground  after  plowing,  and 
deeply  and  thoroughly  harrowing  in,  or,  if  in  small  gar- 
dens, forked  in  lightly  with  the  prongs  of  a  garden  fork 
or  long-toothed  steel  rake.  When  applied  in  hills  or 
drills,  from  100  to  300  pounds  should  be  used  to  the 
acre,  according  to  the  distance  of  these  apart,  mixing 
with  soil,  etc.,  as  already  directed. 

When  well-rotted  Stable  Manure  is  procurable  at  a  cost 
not  to  exceed  $3  per  ton,  delivered  on  the  ground,  whether 
from  horses  or  cows,  it  is  preferable  to  any  concentrated 
fertilizer.  Rotted  Stable  Manure,  to  produce  full  crops, 
should  be  spread  on  the  ground  not  less  than  three  inches 
thick,  (our  market  gardeners  use  from  50  to  75  tons  of 
well-rotted  Stable  Manure  per  acre,  when  no  concentrated 
fertilizer  is  used,)  and  should  be  thoroughly  mixed  with 
the  soil  by  plowing  or  spading.  The  refuse  hops  from 
breweries  form  an  excellent  fertilizer,  at  least  one-half 
more  valuable,  bulk  for  bulk,  than  Stable  Manure.  Other 
excellent  fertilizers  are  obtained  from  the  scrapings  or 
shavings  from  horn  or  whalebone  manufactories.  The 
best  way  to  make  these  quickly  available  is  to  compost 
them  with  hot  manure,  in  the  proportion  of  one  ton  of 
refuse  horn  or  whalebone  with  fifteen  tons  of  manure. 
The  heated  manure  extracts  the  oil,  which  is  intermingled 
with  the  whole. 

The  manure  from  the  chicken  or  pigeon  house  is  very 
valuable,  and  when  composted  as  directed  for  Bone  Dust 
and  Guano,  has  at  least  one-third  their  value.  Castor 
Oil  Pomace  is  also  valuable  in  about  the  same  proportion. 

Poudrette  is  the  name  given  to  a  commercial  fertilizer, 


198  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

the  composition  of  which  is  night  soil  and  dried  swamp 
muck  or  charcoal  dust  as  an  absorbent.  It  is  sold  at 
about  $12  to  $15  per  ton,  and  at  that  price  may  be  equal 
in  value,  if  too  much  of  the  absorbing  material  is  not 
used,  to  Bone  Dust  at  $40  per  ton. 

In  my  early  experience  as  a  market  gardener,  I  used 
large  quantities  of  Night  Soil  for  vegetable  crops  with 
the  very  best  results.  It  was  mixed  with  Stable  Manure 
at  the  rate  of  about  one  ton  of  Night  Soil  to  fifteen 
tons  of  Stable  Manure,  and  put  on  the  land,  so  mixed, 
at  the  rate  of  25  tons  per  acre.  In  the  absence  of  Stable 
Manure,  dry  soil,  charcoal  dust,  sawdust,  or  any  material 
that  will  absorb  it,  will  do.  Thus  mixed,  if  equal 
quantities  of  each  have  been  used,  ten  tons  may  be  used 
per  acre,  if  plowed  in;  if  sowed  on  tcp,  to  be  harrowed 
in,  say  five  tons. 

Salt  has  little  or  no  value  as  a  fertilizer,  except  as  a 
medium  of  absorbing  moisture;  for  experience  shows 
that  soils  impregnated  by  a  saline  atmosphere  are  no 
more  fertile  than  those  inland,  out  of  the  reach  of  such 
an  atmosphere. 

Muck  is  the  name  given  to  a  deposit  usually  largely 
composed  of  vegetable  matter,  found  in  swamps  or  in 
hollows  in  forest  lands.  Of  itself  it  has  usually  but  little 
fertilizing  property,  but  from  its  porous  nature,  when  dry, 
it  is  one  of  the  best  materials  to  use  to  mix  with  other 
manures  as  an  absorbent.  It  can  be  used  to  great  ad- 
vantage if  dug  out  in  winter  and  piled  up  in  narrow  ridges, 
so  that  it  can  be  partly  dried  and  "  sweetened ''  in  sum- 
mer. Thus  dry,  if  mixed  with  Stable  Manure,  or,  better 
yet,  thrown  in  layers  three  or  four  inches  thick  in  the 
cattle  or  hog  yard,  where  it  can  be  trodden  down  and 
amalgamated  with  the  manure,  the  value  of  the  manure 
thus  treated  will  be  nearly  doubled. 


MANURES    AND    THEIR    MODES    OF    APPLICATION.    199 

In  reply  to  questions  that  I  receive  by  the  hundred  each 
season,  asking  whether  or  not  it  is  worth  while  to  use  the 
so-called  special  fertilizers,  claimed  to  be  suited  to  the 
wants  of  particular  plants,  such  as  the  "  Potato  Fertilizer," 
" Cabbage  Fertilizer,"  "Strawberry  Fertilizer,"  "Rose 
Fertilizer,"  etc.,  I  can  only  give  this  general  answer, 
that  while  these  manures  may  suit  the  plants  they  are 
claimed  to  be  "  special  "  for,  I  have  no  doubt  that  either 
one  would  suit  equally  well  for  the  others;  or,  if  all  were 
mixed  together,  the  mixture  would  be  found  to  answer 
the  purpose  for  each  kind  of  crop,  just  as  well  as  if  kept 
separate  and  applied  to  the  crop  it  was  named  for.  These 
hair-splitting  distinctions  are  not  recognized  to  be  of  any 
value  by  one  practical  farmer  or  gardener  in  every  hun- 
dred; for  a  little  experience  soon  shows  that  pure  Bone 
Dust  or  well-rotted  Stable  Manure  answers  for  all  crops 
alike,  no  matter  what  they  are.  These  special  fertilizers 
for  special  crops  are  gradually  increasing  in  number,  so 
that  some  dealers  now  offer  fifty  kinds,  different  brands 
being  offered  for  plants  belonging  to  the  same  family. 
There  is  an  ignorant  assumption  in  this,  and  any  culti- 
vator of  ordinary  intelligence  cannot  fail  to  see  that  the 
motive  in  so  doing  is  to  strike  as  broad  a  swath  as  possi- 
ble, so  that  a  larger  number  of  customers  maybe  reached. 

One  of  my  neighbors  called  the  other  day,  and  informed 
me  that  his  Lettuce  crop,  in  his  green-house,  was  failing, 
and  asked  me  what  I  thought  of  the  Lettuce  Fertilizer 
that  was  offered  in  a  circular  that  contained  some  fifty 
other  "  specials."  An  inquiry  developed  the  fact  that 
he  had  been  keeping  his  Lettuce  crop  at  a  night  tempera- 
ture of  65°  in  January,  so  that  there  was  just  about  as 
much  chance  of  the  Special  Lettuce  Fertilizer  helping 
the  crop  as  there  would  be  of  giving  health  to  a  man  by 
feeding  him  beefsteak  in  the  last  stages  of  consumption. 


2OO  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

I  merely  mention  this  incident  to  show  how,  and  in  what 
manner,  the  sellers  of  these  special  fertilizers  obtain 
customers. 


MARKET  GARDENING  AROUND  NEW  YORK.    2O1 


MARKET  GARDENING  AROUND  NEW  YORK. 

BY    PETER    HENDERSON. 

(Read   before   the  Annual  Meeting  of   the  National  Association  of 

Nurserymen,  Florists,  and  Seedsmen,  held  at  Dayton,  Ohio, 

June  i6th,  1881.) 


PROBABLY  nowhere,  in  this  or  any  other  country,  is  the 
business  of  Market  Gardening  better  done  than  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  York  city.  The  reason  for  this  is  prob- 
ably to  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  New  York,  being  the 
great  depot  for  all  the  nationalities  of  Europe,  gets  from 
them  the  various  methods  there  practised;  in  addition  to 
this,  and  what  may  have  even  more  to  do  with  it,  our 
higher-priced  labor  forces  us  to  adopt  plans  entirely  un- 
thought  of  there.  Certain  it  is,  that,  so  far  as  the  practi- 
cal work  in  use  for  cultivation  is  concerned,  our  methods, 
in  nearly  all  operations,  are  quicker  done  here  than  there, 
and  are  equally  as  well  done. 

In  the  immediate  suburbs  of  New  York,  where  the 
lands  are  rapidly  being  taken  for  building  sites,  many  of 
the  market  gardeners  pay  as  high  as  $100  rent  per  acre 
annually,  and  that,  too,  in  most  cases,  without  a  lease. 
All  such  lands,  of  course,  are  cultivated  to  their  fullest 
capacity,  and  even  at  present  prices  (which  are  hardly 
yet  up  to  those  of  ante-war  times)  bring  an  average  gross 
income  of  about  $1,000  per  acre. 

A  great  advantage  is  found  in  having  the  lands  for 
growing  vegetables  as  near  to  the  city  as  possible.  The 
saving  in  hauling  of  manure  is  one  important  item;  but 


2O2  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

another,  and  one  far  more  important,  is  that,  if  the  grower 
is  near  enough  to  the  city  to  make  two  or  three  trips  a 
day,  in  such  a  fluctuating  market  as  that  of  New  York,  it 
is  greatly  to  his  advantage.  I  have  frequently  seen  that 
nearly  double  value  could  be  obtained  for  products  within 
twenty-four  hours.  I  remember,  on  one  occasion,  when 
engaged  in  business  in  Jersey  City,  where  we  were  within 
half  an  hour's  time  of  the  great  wholesale  Washington 
Market  of  New  York,  one  Saturday,  that  each  of  our  four 
wagons  made  three  trips,  taking  in  twelve  loads  of  Cab- 
bages, which  averaged  $50  per  load;  while  on  the  Monday 
following  the  same  loads  only  brought  us  $30  per  load. 
Had  we  been  ten  or  twelve  miles  distant  from  the  mar- 
ket, as  the  greater  number  of  those  engaged  in  the  busi- 
ness are,  the  high  rates  ruling  that  day  could  not  have 
been  taken  advantage  of.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that, 
whatever  kind  of  horticultural  product  is  grown,  whether 
fruit,  flowers,  or  vegetables,  he  that  is  nearest  market, 
other  things  being  equal,  has  a  decided  advantage;  so 
much-so  that,  in  most  cases,  a  man  had  better  pay  $50  or 
even  $100  per  acre  rent,  if  within  one  or  two  miles  from 
the  market  of  a  large  city,  than  to  get  land  ten  or  twelve 
miles  away  for  nothing. 

I  have  little  to  relate  that  is  new  in  methods  of  culture, 
in  the  open  ground,  in  market  gardening.  Nearly  the 
same  processes  are  now  practised  as  when  I  first  wrote 
my  work  on  this  subject  in  1866;  but  since  that  time  we 
have  made  many  important  improvements  in  culture  un- 
der glass,  particularly  in  the  methods  in  use  in  starting 
plants  of  Cabbage,  Cauliflower,  and  Lettuce.  The  old 
plan  of  sowing  the  seeds  for  these  plants  in  the  open  air 
in  September,  and  pricking  them  off  in  October,  and 
keeping  them  in  cold  frames,  is  gradually  giving  way  to 
sowing  in  green-houses  or  hot-beds  in  February,  and 


MARKET  GARDENING  AROUND  NEW  YORK.    203 

pricking  out  in  March,  which  gives  a  far  healthier  and 
nearly  as  strong  a  plant,  by  the  first  week  in  April,  as 
those  that  have  been  wintered  over.  The  past  season  we 
raised  nearly  half  a  million  of  plants  in  this  manner, 
which  we  sold  at  $5  per  thousand,  a  price  as  profitable 
to  us  as  the  plants  were  satisfactory  to  the  buyers.  We 
sowed  the  seed  the  first  week  in  February,  in  one  of  our 
green-house  benches,  so  thick  that  they  stood  twenty 
plants  to  the  square  inch.  These  we  began  to  thin  out, 
to  prick  in  hot-beds,  just  as  the  first  rough  leaf  appeared, 
placing  a  thousand  plants  in  a  3  x  6  sash. 

The  handling  of  that  quantity  was  a  big  job,  but  I  doubt 
if  one  plant  in  a  thousand  failed,  owing,  I  think,  to  a  plan 
we  used  in  preparing  the  bed  on  the  green-house  bench 
for  the  seeds;  a  plan  that  I  think  well  worthy  of  .imitation 
in  preparing  a  bed  for  seeds,  that  have  to  be  transplanted, 
of  any  kind,  whether  outside  or  under  glass.  We  used 
only  two  inches  in  depth  of  "  soil "  for  our  seed-bed, 
which  was  made  up  as  follows:  For  the  first  layer,  about 
an  inch,  we  used  a  good  friable  loam,  run  through  a  half- 
inch  sieve.  This  was  patted  down  with  a  spade,  and 
made  perfectly  level  and  moderately  firm.  On  this  was 
spread  about  one-fourth  of  an  inch  of  Sphagnum,  (moss 
from  the  swamps,)  which  had  been  dried  and  run  through 
a  sieve  nearly  as  fine  as  mosquito  wire,  so  that  it  was  of 
the  condition  of  fine  sawdust.  On  the  top  of  the  moss 
the  ordinary  soil  was  again  strewn,  to  a  depth  of  about 
three-fourths  of  an  inch.  This  being  leveled,  the  seed 
were  sown  very  thickly,  and  then  pressed  into  the  soil 
with  a  smooth  board.  On  this  the  fine  moss  was  again 
sifted,  thick  enough  to  cover  the  seed  only.  The  bed 
was  then  freely  watered  with  a  fine  rose,  and  in  a  week 
every  seed  that  had  life  in  it  was  a  plant. 

Now  this  seems  a  long  story  to  tell  about  what  most 


204  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

consider  a  very  simple  operation,  but  it  is  necessary  to 
give  these  details  for  a  thorough  understanding  of  the 
advantages  of  the  method.  When  the  seeds  of  most  plants 
germinate,  where  they  are  thickly  sown,  the  stem  strikes 
down  into  the  soil,  the  roots  forming  a  tap-root  with  few 
fibers,  unless  arrested  by  something.  Here  comes  the 
value  of  our  one-fourth  of  an  inch  of  sifted  moss,  placed 
three-quarters  of  an  inch  from  the  top.  As  soon  as  the 
rootlets  touch  the  moss  they  ramify  in  all  directions,  so 
that  when  a  bunch  of  seedlings  is  lifted  up  and  pulled 
apart,  there  is  a  mass  of  rootlets,  to  which  the  moss,  less 
or  more,  adheres,  attached  to  each.  To  the  practical 
gardener,  the  advantage  of  this  is  obvious:  the  tiny  seed- 
ling has  at  the  start  a  mass  of  rootlets  ready  to  work, 
which  strike  into  the  soil  at  once. 

The  advantage  of  the  moss  covering  of  the  seed  is  not 
so  apparent,  in  the  matter  of  a  free  germinating  seed, 
such  as  Cabbage,  as  in  many  others,  but  in  many  families 
of  plants  it  is  of  the  greatest  value.  For  example,  last 
November  I  took  two  lots  of  ten  thousand  seeds  of  Cen- 
taurea  Candida,  (one  of  the  Dusty  Miller  plants  so  much 
used  for  ribbon  lines;)  both  were  sown  on  the  same  day, 
and  exactly  in  the  same  manner,  in  boxes  two  inches  deep 
filled  with  soil;  but  the  one  lot  was  covered  with  the  sifted 
moss,  and  the  other  with  fine  soil.  From  the  moss- 
covered  lot  I  got  over  nine  thousand  fine  plants,  while 
from  that  covered  by  soil  only  about  three  thousand. 
The  same  results  were  shown  in  a  large  lot  of  seeds  of 
the  now  famous  climbing  plant,  Ampelopsis  Veitchii,  and 
in  the  finer  varieties  of  Clematis.  The  dust  from  Cocoa- 
nut  fiber  will  answer  the  purpose  even  better  than  sifted 
moss, when  it  can  be  obtained.  The  reason  is  plain:  the 
thin  layer  of  sifted  moss  never  bakes  or  hardens,  holding 
just  the  right  degree  of  moisture,  and  has  less  tendency 


MARKET  GARDENING  AROUND  NEW  YORK.    20$ 

to  generate  damp  or  fungus  than  any  substance  that  I 
know  of. 

In  this  connection,  I  may  state  that  the  use  of  wintered 
over  Lettuce  plants,  for  forcing  in  green-houses  or  hot. 
houses,  is  here,  to  a  great  extent,  being  abandoned,  and 
that  the  plants  used  for  that  purpose  are  such  as  have 
been  sown  five  or  six  weeks  only  previous  to  planting,  in 
the  manner  described  for  Cabbage  plants,  sowings  being 
made  for  succession,  as  required.  These  young  plants 
are  found  to  be  far  less  liable  to  the  Lettuce  disease, 
known  as  "  rust "  or  "  blight,"  which  has  created  so  much 
havoc  in  forcing  this  vegetable  in  all  quarters  of  the 
country.  I  have  been  written  to  by  hundreds  in  relation 
to  a  remedy  for  this  disease,  but  know  of  none,  except 
the  use  of  young  plants  raised  as  above  recommended, 
using,  wherever  practicable,  fresh  soil  each  season.  One 
of  my  neighbors,  who  uses  nearly  3,000  sashes  in  the 
forcing  of  Lettuce,  has  adopted  this  plan  for  the  past  two 
years,  and  has  had  no  Lettuce  disease. 

As  I  have  before  said,  although  there  is  but  little  in 
general  culture  to  tell,  almost  every  year  brings  out  some 
improvement  in  varieties.  Within  the  past  dozen  years 
many  important  advances  have  been  made  in  earliness 
and  in  quality  of  vegetables.  Among  Beets,  we  have  the 
Egyptian,  which  matures  at  least  five  days  before  any 
other  variety,  except  the  old  Bassano,  which  was  too  light 
in  color  to  suit;  in  Cabbages,  the  Early  Summer;  in 
Cauliflower,  the  Snowball;  in  Celery,  the  Golden  Dwarf; 
and  a  great  improvement  has  been  developed  in  the 
White  Walnut,  a  solid,  stout  kind,  with  a  rich,  walnut- 
like  flavor,  and  graceful,  feather-like  foliage  ;  while  the 
new  "White  Plume"  combines  the  rare  qualities  of  a 
rich,  walnut-like  flavor,  self -blanching,  and  a  beautiful, 
plume-like  foliage  that  gives  it  its  name.  See  page  165. 


206  GARDEN    AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

In  Lettuce,  the  Black-seeded  Simpson,  the  White  Sum- 
mer Cabbage,  and  the  Salamander  now  lead  all  the  out- 
door varieties;  in  Muskmelons,  the  Hackensack,  of  which 
many  thousands  of  acres  are  grown  for  the  New  York  mar- 
ket, is  almost  exclusively  planted.  In  Pease,  a  great  im- 
provement is  developed  in  the  dwarf  variety  known  as 
American  Wonder,  though  for  general  early  crop  the 
Improved  Dan  O'Rourke  is  best.  Potatoes  vary  so  much 
in  different  localities,  that  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  of  the 
new  sorts  are  most  valued.  We  find,  however,  that  in  our 
general  trade  more  of  Beauty  of  Hebron  is  planted  than 
any  other  of  the  new  sorts.  In  Radishes,  the  new  Round 
Dark  Red  is  now  the  main  favorite,  while  next  in  order 
comes  the  "White-tipped  Scarlet  Turnip."  In  Spinach, 
the  Savoy  and  the  new  Thick  Leaved  are  the  best  for  gen- 
eral crop;  though  we  find  that  the  Savoy  should  not  be 
sown  in  spring,  as  it  runs  too  quickly  to  seed.  Though 
every  year  brings  out  new  claimants  for  favor  in  Tomatoes, 
it  is  my  conviction  that  we  have  not  advanced  one  day  in 
earliness  (unless  in  such  varieties  as  Keyes's  Prolific  and 
Little  Gem,  which  are  of  poor  quality)  in  twenty-five  years, 
although  we  have  now  many  varieties  somewhat  im- 
proved in  quality.  The  varieties  now  most  popular 
with  New  York  market  gardeners  are  Acme  and  Par- 
agon, though,  from  the  unusual  advertising  given  to  the 
Trophy,  the  general  cultivation  of  that  is  greater  than 
any  other;  but,  as  it  is  usually  found  now,  it  is  far 
inferior  to  many  others,  besides  being  one  of  the  latest 
varieties.  . 

Quite  a  number  of  our  market  gardeners  are  now  get- 
ting to  grow  Strawberries  in  conjunction  with  their  vege- 
table crops,  by  following  the  pot  layering  system,  by 
which  a  crop  is  obtained  in  less  than  a  year  from  the 
time  of  planting.  We  have  ourselves  grown,  for  the  past 


MARKET  GARDENING  AROUND  NEW  YORK.    $0? 

six  or  seven  years,  upward  of  an  acre  of  Strawberries  in 
this  manner,  alternating  them  with  the  vegetables  grown 
in  our  "  trial  grounds."  As  the  process  may  be  new  to 
some,  I  will  briefly  detail  it. 

Just  as  soon  as  the  fruit  is  gathered,  the  beds  are  well 
forked  up,  and  the  runners  begin  to  grow  rapidly, 
so  that,  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  we  can  always 
obtain  strong  pot  layers  by  the  loth  to  the  i5th  of  July. 
These,  if  then  planted  out,  never  fail  (if  properly  culti- 
vated and  the  runners  kept  pinched  off)  to  give  a  full 
crop  by  June  of  next  year;  not  only  a  full  crop,  but  finer 
fruit  than  is  usually  obtained  by  the  other  methods. 

Our  manner  of  performing  the  operaticn  of  layering 
the  runners  of  Strawberries  in  pots  is  as  follows:  The 
pots,  which  should  not  exceed  two  and  a  half  inches  in 
diameter,  are  filled  with  the  soil  in  which  the  Strawberries 
are  growing,  and  "  plunged  "  or  sunk  to  the  level  of  the 
surface;  the  Strawberry  layer  is  then  laid  on  the  pot,  being 
held  in  its  place  with  a  small  stone.  The  stone  not  only 
serves  to  keep  the  plant  in  its  place,  so  that  its  roots  will 
strike  into  the  soil  of  the  pot,  but  it  also  serves  to  mark 
where  the  pot  is;  for,  being  sunk  to  the  level  of  the  sur- 
face, rains  wash  the  soil  around  the  pots,  so  that  they 
could  not  well  be  seen  unless  marked  by  the  stone.  Any 
good  workman,  after  a  little  experience,  will  layer  two 
thousand  per  day.  In  ten  or  twelve  days  after  the  Straw- 
berry layers  have  been  put  down,  the  pots  will  be  filled 
with  roots.  They  are  then  cut  from  the  parent  plant, 
taken  up,  and  placed  close  together,  and  shaded  and 
watered  for  a  few  days  before  being  planted  out.  If  so 
treated,  not  one  plant  in  a  thousand  need  fail. 

We  grow  only  an  acre  or  so  each  year,  for  the  purpose 
of  testing  varieties;  but  I  am  so  convinced  of  the  value 
of  the  plan,  that  if  I  grew  largely  for  market  I  would 


2o8  GARDEN  AND  FARM  TOPICS. 

prefer  it  to  any  other.  It  will  be  understood,  that  by 
this  method  the  plants  only  occupy  the  ground  about  ten 
or  eleven  months,  from  the  time  the  plants  are  set  out  in 
July  or  August  until  the  fruit  is  gathered  in  June.  As  I 
have  before  said,  we  alternate  the  Strawberry  crop  with 
vegetables.  Our  samples  of  Cabbage,  Cauliflower,  Rad- 
ishes, Lettuce,  etc.,  in  our  trial  grounds,  occupy  the  same 
space,  so  that  when  the  ground  is  cleared  of  these  in  June 
or  July,  the  Strawberry  layers  are  planted  in  their  place; 
while  a  crop  of  Celery  takes  the  place  of  the  Strawberry 
crop  that  had  fruited,  so  that  the  ground  is  never  allowed 
to  lie  idle. 

The  question  of  fertilizers,  for  the  use  of  the  market 
garden,  is  now  becoming  a  very  serious  one  for  the  market 
gardeners,  in  such  cities  as  New  York,  where  the  manure 
from  the  stables  does  not  increase  in  the  ratio  of  the 
lands  cultivated,  as,  perhaps,  half  of  all  the  products  grown 
are  shipped  to  adjacent  towns  and  cities.  Still  there  are 
few  market  gardeners  who  do  not  use  stable  manure, 
which  costs,  when  fit  to  go  on  the  land,  from  $2  to  $3 
per  ton.  This  is  put  on  in  spring,  at  the  rate  of  from 
fifty  to  seventy-five  tons  per  acre,  which  is  often  supple- 
mented by  half  a  ton  of  Peruvian  Guano  or  Bone  Dust, 
which  is  sown  on  the  land  and  harrowed  in,  after  the 
stable  manure  has  been  plowed  in.  A  great  many 
fertilizers  are  used  besides  Peruvian  Guano  and  Bone 
Dust,  such  as  Fish  Guano,  Dry  Blood  Fertilizer,  Blood 
and  Bone  Fertilizer,  together  with  the  various  brands  of 
Phosphates;  but  the  majority  of  cultivators  prefer  pure 
Bone  Meal  or  Peruvian  Guano  to  all  others. 

I  saw  a  list  the  other  day,  wherein  was  enumerated  no 
less  than  sixteen  separate  kinds  of  special  fertilizers  for 
thirty  different  crops,  with  the  chemical  elements  of  each 
split  down  to  even  one-half  of  one  per  cent.  Now,  I 


MARKET  GARDENING  AROUND  NEW  YORK.    209 

know  nothing  whatever  about  agricultural  chemistry,  and 
it  may  be  presumption  in  me  to  criticise  such  a  list;  yet 
when  I  am  told  that  one  kind  of  fertilizer  is  needed  for 
Cabbages  and  another  kind  for  Turnips;  one  for  Sugar 
Cane  and  another  for  Corn;  one  for  Wheat  and  another 
for  Grass,  (plants,  if  not  of  the  same  family,  at  least  of  the 
same  natural  order,)  I  am  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
science,  so-called,  is  taking  the  place  of  common  sense, 
and  is  in  direct  opposition  to  the  experience  of  the  practi- 
cal farmer  or  gardener  in  his  operations  in  the  soil. 

In  our  market  gardening  and  green-house  operations, 
we  cultivate  largely  nearly  every  known  family  of  plants, 
and  in  my  long  experience  I  have  yet  to  see  a  fruit, 
flower,  or  vegetable  crop  that  was  not  benefited,  and 
nearly  in  the  same  degree,  by  a  judicious  application 
of  pure  Bone  Dust;  and  I  would  here  suggest  to  the  ad- 
vocates of  special  fertilizers,  that  in  their  experiments 
they  try  equal  weights  of  pure  Bone  Dust  to  the  half  of 
the  crops  of  Wheat,  Potatoes,  Cabbage,  or  Strawberries, 
being  experimented  on  by  the  "specials,"  and  note  the 
results.  I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  that  these  so- 
called  special  fertilizers  do  not  answer  the  purpose  of  the 
crop  to  which  they  are  applied;  but  what  I  protest  against 
is,  the  hair-splitting  distinctions  claimed  for  them,  con- 
fusing and  troublesome  to  the  cultivator,  if  of  no  practi- 
cal value. 

American  commercial  florists  have,  for  the  past  quarter 
of  a  century,  utterly  discarded  the  various  formulas  for 
the  preparation  of  different  soils,  for  the  various  families 
of  plants  cultivated,  so  dogmatically  insisted  upon  even 
yet  by  most  European  gardeners,  and  instead  of  a  dozen 
different  mould  heaps,  usually  only  one  is  used,  composed 
of  three  parts  rotted  sods  and  one  of  rotted  stable  manure; 
yet  who  will  say  that  our  results  have  not  been  as  good 


210  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

in  consequence  ?  I  believe  the  same  fate  is  soon  to 
overtake  the  "specials"  in  fertilizers.  They  may  hold  their 
own,  perhaps,  for  a  time  among  a  few  amateur  cultivators 
of  7X9  garden  patches,  (men  usually  glib  with  the  pen, 
and  who  get  in  an  ecstasy  over  their  success  with  a  dozen 
Tomato  or  a  score  of  Strawberry  plants,)  but  few  of  the 
hard-fisted  gardeners  or  farmers,  who  live  by  the  soil, 
are  likely  to  become  converts.  My  business,  as  a  seeds- 
man, brings  me  in  contact  with  many  hundreds  of  farmers 
and  gardeners  each  season,  but  I  have  known  of  few  who 
think  it  necessary  to  use  special  fertilizers  for  special 
crops. 

It  would  certainly  be  a  misfortune  for  the  Orange 
grower  of  Florida,  the  Cotton  planter  of  Louisiana,  or 
the  Wheat  grower  of  Ohio,  if  he  were  induced  to  freight 
a  special  manure  for  his  particular  crop  a  thousand  miles, 
if  he  had  as  good  a  material  in  Bone  Dust  at  his  door. 
If  our  law-makers  at  Washington  had  given  that  attention 
to  agriculture  that  its  importance  deserves,  we  would  long 
ago  have  had  suitable  grounds  there  to  test  such  ques- 
tions on  a  scale  large  enough  and  broad  enough  to  deter- 
mine whether  or  not  the  manure  suitable  for  a  Potato 
was  not  equally  suitable  for  a  Cabbage. 

I  beg  to  apologize  for  the  time  occupied  in  discussing 
fertilizers,  but  the  subject  is  one  of  the  first  importance 
to  every  cultivator  of  the  soil,  be  he  farmer,  market 
gardener,  nurseryman,  or  florist;  and  whether  right  or 
wrong  in  my  conclusions,  if  what  has  been  said  may  cause 
further  investigation  to  get  at  the  facts,  I  shall  be  satisfied, 
whatever  these  facts  may  reveal. 


T    IN    SOWING    AND    PLANTING.    21] 


THE  USE  OF  THE  FEET 


SOWING    AND    PLANTING. 

BY  PETER  HENDERSON. 

(Read   before   the  annual   meeting   of   the    National  Association   of 

^Nurserymen,  Florists,  and  Seedsmen,  held  at  Cleveland,  Ohio, 

in  June,  1880.) 


IT  may  be  useless  to  throw  out  any  suggestions  in 
relation  to  horticultural  operations  to  such  a  body  of 
practical  men  as  is  now  before  me.  Yet  I  candidly  ad- 
mit that,  although  I  have  been  extensively  engaged  in 
gardening  operations  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I 
did  not  fully  realize,  until  a  few  years  ago,  the  full  im- 
portance of  how  indispensable  it  is  to  use  the  feet  in 
the  operations  of  sowing  and  planting. 

For  some  years  past  I  have,  in  writing  on  gardening 
matters,  insisted  upon  the  great  importance  of  "  firming  " 
the  soil  over  the  seeds  after  sowing,  especially  when  the 
soil  is  dry,  or  likely  to  become  so.  I  know  of  no  opera- 
tion of  more  importance  in  either  the  farm  or  the  garden, 
and  I  trust  that  what  I  am  about  to  say  will  be  read  and 
remembered  by  every  one  not  yet  aware  of  the  vast  im- 
portance of  the  practice.  I  say  "vast  importance,"  for 
the  loss  to  the  agricultural  and  horticultural  community, 
from  the  habit  of  loosely  sowing  seeds  or  planting  plants 
in  hot  and  dry  soils,  is  of  a  magnitude  which  few  will 


212  GARDEN   AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

believe  until  they  have  witnessed  it ;  and  it  is  a  loss  all 
the  more  to  be  regretted,  when  we  know  that  by  "  firming  " 
the  soil  around  the  seed  or  plant,  there  is,  in  most  cases, 
a  certain  preventive. 

Particularly  in  the  sowing  of  seeds,  I  consider  the  matter 
of  such  vast  importance,  that  it  cannot  be  too  often  or  too 
strongly  told;  for  the  loss  to  the  agricultural  and  horti- 
cultural community,  by  the  neglect  of  the  simple  opera- 
tion of  firming  the  soil  around  the  seed,  must  amount  to 
many  millions  annually.  For  the  mischief  done  is  not 
confined  only  to  the  less  important  garden  operations, 
but  even  Corn,  Cotton,  Wheat,  Turnips,  Grasses,  and 
other  important  crops  of  the  farm  often  fail,  as  thou- 
sands of  farmers  know  to  their  sorrow,  in  hot  and 
dry  soils,  by  being  sown  without  being  firmed  sufficiently 
to  prevent  the  dry  air  shriveling  or  drying  the  seeds. 
Of  course,  the  use  of  the  feet  is  impracticable  in  firming 
seeds  on  the  farm,  but  a  heavy  roller,  applied  after  sowing, 
is  an  absolute  necessity  under  certain  conditions  of  the 
soil,  to  insure  perfect  germination,  which  is  indispensable 
to  a  perfect  crop. 

From  the  middle  of  April  to  nearly  the  end  of  May  of 
this  year,  in  many  sections  of  the  country,  there  was  little 
or  no  rain.  Such  was  particularly  the  case  in  the  vicinity 
of  New  York  City,  where  we  have  hundreds  of  market 
gardeners,  who  cultivate  thousands  of  acres  of  Cabbage, 
Cauliflower,  and  Celery,  but  the  "dry  spring"  has  played 
sad  havoc  with  their  seed-beds.  Celery  is  not  one-fourth 
of  a  crop,  and  Cabbage  and  Cauliflower  hardly  half,  and 
this  failure  is  due  to  no  other  cause  than  that  they  persist 
in  sowing  their  seeds  without  ever  taking  the  precaution 
to  firm  the  soil  by  rolling. 

We  sow  annually  about  four  acres  in  Celery,  Cabbage, 
and  Cauliflower  seeds,  which  produce  probably  five  mil- 


USE    OF    THE    FEET    IN    SOWING    AND    PLANTING.    213 

lions  of  plants,  which  we  never  fail  to  sell  mostly  in  our 
immediate  neighborhood,  to  the  market  gardeners,  who 
have,  many  of  them,  even  better  soil  than  we  have  for 
raising  these  plants,  and  would  succeed  if  they  would  only 
do  as  we  do,  firm  the  seed  after  sowing,  which  is  done 
thus  : 

After  plowing,  harrowing,  and  leveling  the  land 
smoothly,  lines  are  drawn  by  the  "  marker,"  which  makes 
furrows  about  two  inches  deep  and  a  foot  apart.  After 
the  man  who  sows  the  seed  follows  another,  who,  with 
the  ball  of  the  right  foot,  presses  down  his  full  weight 
on  every  inch  of  soil  in  the  drill  where  the  seed  has 
been  sown.  The  rows  are  then  lightly  leveled  longi- 
tudinally with  the  rake,  a  light  roller  is  passed  over  them, 
and  the  operation  is  done. 

By  this  method  our  crop  has  never  once  failed,  and 
what  is  true  of  Celery  and  Cabbage  seed  is  nearly  true  of 
all  other  seeds  requiring  to  be  sown  during  the  late 
spring  or  summer  months. 

On  July  2d  of  1874,  as  an  experiment,  I  sowed  twelve 
rows  of  Sweet  Corn  and  twelve  rows  of  Beets,  treading  in, 
after  sowing,  every  alternate  row  of  each.  In  both  cases, 
those  trod  in  came  up  in  four  days,  while  those  unfirmed 
remained  twelve  days  before  starting,  and  would  not 
then  have  germinated  had  not  rain  fallen,  for  the  soil 
was  dry  as  dust  when  the  seed  were  sown. 

The  result  was,  that  the  seeds  that  had  been  trodden 
in  grew  freely  from  the  start,  and  matured  their  crops  to 
a  marketable  condition  by  fall ;  while  the  rows  unfirmed 
did  not  mature,  as  they  were  not  only  eight  days  later  in 
germinating,  but  the  plants  were  also,  to  some  extent, 
enfeebled  by  being  partially  dried  in  the  loose,  dry  soil. 

This  experiment  was  a  most  useful  one,  for  it  proved 
that  a  Corn  crop,  sown  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York  as 


214  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

late  as  July  2d,  could  be  made  to  produce  "  roasting 
ears  "  in  October,  when  they  never  fail  to  sell  freely  at 
high  rates  ;  but  the  crop  would  not  mature  unless  the 
seed  germinated  at  once,  which  would  never  be  certain 
at  that  dry  and  hot  season,  unless  by  this  method. 

The  same  season,  in  August,  I  treated  seeds  of  Turnips 
and  Spinach  in  the  same  way.  Those  trod  in  germinated 
at  once,  and  made  an  excellent  crop,  while  those  un- 
firmed  germinated  feebly,  and  were  eventually  nearly  all 
burned  out  by  a  continuance  of  dry,  hot  air  penetrating 
through  the  loose  soil  to  the  tender  rootlets. 

I  beg  to  caution  the  inexperienced,  however,  by  no 
means  to  tread  or  roll  in  seed  if  the  ground  is  not  dry. 
The  soil  may  often  be  in  a  suitable  condition  to  sow,  and 
yet  be  too  damp  to  be  trodden  upon  or  rolled.  In  such 
cases  these  operations  may  not  be  necessary  at  all,  for  if 
rainy  weather  ensue,  the  seeds  will  germinate  of  course  ; 
but  if  there  is  any  likelihood  of  a  continued  drought,  the 
treading  or  rolling  may  be  done  a  week  or  more  after  the 
seed  has  been  sown,  if  there  is  any  reason  to  believe  that 
it  may  suffer  from  the  dry,  hot  air.  Another  very  im- 
portant advantage  gained  by  treading  in  the  seeds  is,  that 
when  we  have  crops  of  Beets,  Celery,  Turnips,  Spinach,  or 
anything  else  that  is  sown  in  rows,  the  seeds  to  form  the 
crop  come  up  at  once  ;  while  the  seeds  of  the  weeds,  that 
are  just  as  liable  to  perish  by  the  heat  as  are  those  of  the 
crop,  are  retarded.  Such  of  the  weed  seeds  as  lie  in  the 
space  between  the  rows  when  the  soil  is  loose,  will  not 
germinate  as  quickly  as  those  of  the  crop  sown  ;  and 
hence  we  can  cultivate  between  the  rows  before  the 
weeds  germinate  at  all. 

Now,  if  firming  the  soil  around  seed,  to  protect  it  from 
the  influence  of  a  dry  and  hot  atmosphere,  is  a  necessity, 
it  is  obvious  that  it  is  quite  as  much  so  in  the  case  of  plants, 


USE    OF    THE    FEET    IN    SOWING    AND    PLANTING.    215 

whose  rootlets  are  even  more  sensitive  to  such  influence 
than  the  dormant  seed. 

Experienced  professional  horticulturists,  however,  are 
less  likely  to  neglect  this  than  to  neglect  in  the  case 
of  seeds,  for  the  damage  from  such  neglect  is  easier  to  be 
seen,  and  hence  better  understood  by  the  practical  nur- 
seryman; but  with  the  inexperienced  amateur  the  case  is 
different.  When  he  receives  his  package  of  trees  or 
plants  from  the  nurseryman,  he  handles  them  as  if  they 
were  glass,  every  broken  twig  or  root  calls  forth  a  com- 
plaint, and  he  proceeds  to  plant  them,  gingerly  straighten- 
ing out  each  root  and  sifting  the  soil  around  them,  but 
he  would  no  more  stamp  down  that  soil  than  he  would 
stamp  on  the  soil  of  his  mother's  grave.  So  the  plant,  in 
nine  cases  out  of  ten,  is  left  loose  and  waggling ;  the  dry 
air  penetrates  through  the  soil  to  its  roots;  the  winds 
shake  it;  it  shrivels  up  and  fails  to  grow  ;  and  then  come 
the  anathemas  on  the  head  of  the  unfortunate  nursery- 
man, who  is  charged  with  selling  him  dead  trees  or  plants. 

About  a  month  ago  I  sent  a  package  of  a  dozen  Roses 
by  mail  to  a  lady  in  Savannah.  She  wrote  me  a  woeful 
story  last  week,  saying  that,  though  the  Roses  had  ar- 
rived seemingly  all  right,  they  had  all  died  but  one,  and 
what  was  very  singular,  she  said,  the  one  that  lived  was 
the  one  that  Mr.  Jones  had  stepped  on,  and  which  she 
had  thought  sure  was  crushed  to  death,  for  Mr.  Jones 
weighs  200  pounds.  Now,  though  I  do  not  advise  any 
gentleman  of  200  pounds  putting  his  brogan  on  the  top 
of  a  tender  Rose  plant,  as  a  practice  conducive  to  its 
health,  yet,  if  Mrs.  Jones  could  have  allowed  her  weighty 
lord  to  press  the  soil  against  the  root  of  each  of  her  dozen 
Roses,  I  much  doubt  if  she  would  now  have  to  mourn 
their  loss. 

It  has  often  been  a  wonder  to  many  of  us,  who  have 


2l6  GARDEN    AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

been  workers  in  the  soil  for  a  generation,  how  some  of 
the  simplest  methods  of  culture  have  not  been  practised 
until  we  were  nearly  done  with  life's  work. 

There  are  few  of  us  but  have  had  such  experience, 
personally,  I  must  say  that  I  never  pass  through  a  year 
but  I  aai  confounded  to  find  that  some  operation  can  not 
only  be  quicker  done,  but  better  done  than  we  have  been 
in  the  habit  of  doing  it. 

These  improvements  loom  up  from  various  causes,  but 
mainly  from  suggestions  thrown  out  by  our  employees 
in  charge  of  special  departments,  a  system  which  we  do 
all  in  our  power  to  encourage. 

As  a  proof  of  the  value  of  such  improvements,  which 
have  led  to  simplifying  our  operations,  I  will  state  the  fact, 
that  though  our  area  of  green-house  surface  is  now  more 
than  double  that  which  it  was  in  1870,  and  the  land  used  in 
our  florist's  business  one  third  more,  yet  the  number  of 
hands  employed  is  less  now  than  in  1870,  and  yet,  at  the 
same  time,  the  quality  of  our  stock  is  infinitely  better 
now  than  then. 

Whether  it  is  the  higher  price  of  labor  in  this  country 
that  forces  us  into  labor-saving  expedients,  or  the  inter- 
change of  opinions  from  the  greater  number  of  nationali- 
ties centering  here,  that  gives  us  broader  views  of  cukure, 
I  am  not  prepared  to  state;  but  that  America  is  now  selling 
nearly  all  the  products  of  the  green-house,  garden,  nur- 
sery, and  farm,  lower  than  is  done  in  Europe,  admits  of 
no  question;  and  if  my  homely  suggestions  in  this  matter 
of  firming  the  soil  around  newly  planted  seeds  or  plants, 
will  in  any  degree  assist  us  in  still  holding  to  the  front,  I 
shall  be  gratified. 

I  have  now  been  a  writer  for  the  horticultural  press  for 
over  thirty  years,  and  am  egotistical  enough  to  believe 
that  many  of  my  suggestions,  born  of  a  lifetime  of  active 


USE   OF    THE    FEET    IN    SOWING    AND    PLANTING.     2 17 

practical  work  in  all  kinds  of  gardening  operations,  have 
benefited  hundreds;  but  I  consider  the  short  paper  here 
given  on  "  The  Use  of  the  Feet  in  Sowing  and  Planting  " 
the  most  important  and  valuable  I  have  ever  written, 
if  I  have  succeeded  in  making  my  meaning  clear;  for 
the  ignorance  on  this  subject  is  widespread;  and  when 
we  consider  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  of  all 
kinds  of  farm  products  that  fail  annually  from  no 
other  cause  than  that  the  seeds  have  not  been  properly 
firmed  in  the  soil,  we  can  readily  imagine  the  loss 
from  such  neglect  and  the  importance  of  making  known 
the  remedy. 

Although,  to  the  thousands  of  amateurs  who  are  in- 
terested in  gardening  work,  the  loss  resulting  from  a  few 
seeds  failing  to  germinate,  or  a  few  newly-planted  plants 
failing  to  grow,  is  not  often  estimated  by  dollars  and 
cents,  yet  the  annoyance  and  disappointment  of  failure 
are  inducements  enough  to  use  the  best  means  to  attain 
success,  which  I  believe  will  rarely  fail  to  be  attained  if 
the  directions  which  have  been  given  for  "  The  Use  of 
the  Feet  in  Sowing  and  Planting"  be  strictly  followed; 
for  the  necessity  for  the  operation  of  firming  the  soil  is 
just  as  essential  in  the  tiniest  flower  bed  of  the  garden 
as  in  the  large  plots  of  the  market  garden  or  the  broad 
acres  of  the  farm. 

The  above  essay  on  "  The  Use  of  the  Feet  in  Sowing 
and  Planting  "  was  delivered  at  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  National  Association  of  Nurserymen,  Florists,  and 
Seedsmen,  held  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  1880,  and  at  the 
meeting  held  in  Chicago  the  next  season  I  was  gratified 
by  the  information  obtained  from  a  gentleman  connected 
with  the  press,  who  publicly  stated  that  the  above  article 
had  been  copied  and  republished  in  hundreds  of  news- 
papers throughout  the  land,  and  that  the  information 


2l8  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

it  contained  had,  no  doubt,  already  been  worth  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  community.  Believing 
this  statement  to  be  true  is  a  sufficient  excuse  for  again 
reproducing  it  in  its  present  form  in  "  Garden  and 
Farm  Topics,"  as  in  this  way  we  bring  it  permanently 
before  the  hosts  of  new  readers  annually  springing  up. 


POPULAR    ERRORS    AND    SCIENTIFIC    DOGMAS.        219 

POPULAR    ERRORS 

AND 

SCIENTIFIC    DOGMAS    IN    HORTICULTURE. 

BY    PETER    HENDERSON. 
(Read  before  the  New  York  Horticultural  Society  in  1881.) 


IN  nearly  all  matters  of  life,  before  accepting  some 
one's  say  so,  it  is  wisdom  first  to  use  our  own  judgment 
and  common  sense  ;  and  this  is  particularly  true  in  many 
of  the  operations  of  horticulture,  for  in  no  profession  is 
there  greater  need  for  the  reasoning  faculties,  and  in  the 
neglect  of  the  use  of  these,  the  most  absurd  errors  and 
delusions  are  held  even  by  many  who  are  practically 
engaged  in  the  business.  The  breeder  of  fancy  fowls  or 
pigeons  could  not  be  told  that  the  plumage  of  either 
would  ever  assume  the  scarlet  of  the  Flamingo,  though 
he  would  likely  be  quite  ready  to  believe  that  his  next- 
door  neighbor,  who  is  a  flower  fancier,  may  yet  have  a 
blue  Rose  or  a  blue  Dahlia,  phenomena  just  as  unlikely 
as  that  his  Dorkings  or  his  Brahmas  would  have  a  plu- 
mage of  scarlet ;  for,  so  far,  we  find  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  in  nature  as  plants  having  scarlet,  yellow,  and  blue 
flowers,  in  varieties  of  the  same  species.  Perhaps  the 
nearest  approach  to  it  is  in  the  Hyacinth  ;  but  in  it, 
although  we  have  yellow  and  blue,  we  have  no  true 
scarlet. 

Another  very  popular  error  is  the  belief  that  some- 
thing mysterious  is  done  by  the  professional  horticultur- 
ist to  produce  new  or  fine  varieties  of  fruits  or  flowers. 


220  GARDEN    AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

There  is  no  mystery  or  skill  about  it,  other  than  to  select 
the  best  or  fittest  and  place  them  together.  This  done, 
man's  work  is  done :  Nature  does  the  rest.  It  is  laid 
down  almost  as  an  axiom,  by  amateur  horticulturists, 
that  the  water  with  which  plants  are  watered  should  be 
soft  or  rain  water,  and  of  the  temperature  of  the  room 
or  green-house  wherein  the  plants  are.  Commercial 
florists,  who  grow  hundreds  of  thousands  of  plants,  can- 
not do  this ;  and  yet,  as  a  rule,  their  plants  are  in  the 
very  best  possible  health,  far  better  than  that  of  the 
amateur  who  goes  to  this  unnecessary  trouble,  for  the 
reason  that  the  real  conditions  of  success  (the  proper 
temperature  or  moisture)  can  be  given  in  the  green-house, 
but  not  in  ordinary  sitting-rooms. 

Then,  too,  the  flower-loving  amateur  is  trammeled  by 
another  dogma,  this  time  bearing  the  authority  of  quasi- 
science;  for  a  great  man,  the  family  doctor,  armed  with 
a  smattering  of  chemical  lore,  glibly  asserts  that 
plants,  at  night,  give  out  carbonic  acid  gas,  which  is 
poisonous  to  animal  life,  and,  consequently,  if  plants  are 
kept  in  sleeping-rooms,  sickness  and  even  death  may 
follow.  No  theory  can  be  more  destitute  of  truth. 
That  plants  give  out  carbonic  acid  gas  at  night  may  be, 
but  that  it  is  in  quantity  enough  to  endanger  human  life 
is  utter  nonsense.  If  it  were  so,  we  would  have  no  in- 
sects attacking  plants,  for  their  low  organization  would 
make  them  the  first  victims  to  a  gas  as  poisonous  as  car- 
bonic acid.  Besides,  most  gardeners  who  have  had 
charge  of  green-house  plants,  know  that  on  cold  nights 
the  most  comfortable  quarter  is  the  green-house  ;  and 
yet  I  think  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  in  any  business  a 
healthier  class  of  men  than  professional  gardeners.  I 
have  pleasure  in  believing  that  my  denunciations  of  this 
absurdity,  begun  over  twenty  years  ago,  has  had  some- 


POPULAR    ERRORS    AND    SCIENTIFIC    DOGMAS.        221 

thing  to  do  in  checking  its  spread  ;  but  thousands  of 
plants,  particularly  in  the  rural  districts,  are  yet  con- 
signed to  the  coal  cellar,  at  the  dictum  of  some  wiseacre 
of  a  village  doctor,  who  is  happy  to  be  thought  thus 
learned  in  the  chemistry  of  plants. 

It  is  a  common  error  to  expect,  in  any  one  green- 
house, conservatory,  or  other  place  where  plants  are 
kept,  that  a  general  variety  can  be  grown  and  do  well. 
If  you  attempt  to  grow  Carnations  or  Roses  in  the  same 
temperature  in  which  Coleus,  Poinsettias,  or  Bouvardias 
will  thrive,  rest  assured  they  will  complain  of  too  much 
heat ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  you  treat  these  plants 
of  the  tropics  to  the  atmosphere  suited  to  the  health  of  a 
Carnation  or  a  Rose,  they  will  soon  show  evidence  of 
starvation,  so  that  when  any  housewife  attempts  to  keep 
plants  of  such  widely  different  latitudes  in  her  sitting- 
room,  she  must  not  be  surprised  if  the  results  with  all 
are  not  satisfactory.  So,  too,  gentlemen  employing  gar- 
deners, who  have  only  one  temperature  to  operate  in, 
will  be  unjust  and  unreasonable  to  expect  satisfactory 
results  if  plants  from  temperate  and  tropical  countries 
are  obliged  to  be  grown  together. 

Another  widespread  delusion,  of  a  very  different  kind, 
pervades  a  large  class  of  men,  who  have  a  taste  for  horti- 
cultural matters,  but  who  have  no  practical  knowledge 
of  the  business.  They  have  land  lying  idle  adjacent  to 
a  town  or  city  ;  they  see  growers  of  fruit,  flowers,  or 
vegetables  alongside  of  them,  rough,  unlettered  fellows, 
perhaps,  making  the  business  a  success  ;  why  should 
they,  with  their  lands,  not  do  likewise  ?  They  hire  a 
manager,  and  plunge  into  the  business  of  market  gar- 
dener or  florist,  and  in  nineteen  cases  out  of  twenty  lose 
all  they  invest.  Nothing  else  need  be  expected.  What 
chance  would  a  blacksmith  have  if  he  hired  a  dry-goods 


222  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

or  a  grocery  clerk  to  run  either  of  these  businesses,  if  he 
were  ignorant  himself  of  the  grocery  or  dry-goods  trade  ? 
There  is  no  more  true  adage,  applied  to  horticulture  as 
a  business,  than  that 

"  He  who  by  the  plow  would  thrive, 
Himself  must  either  hold  or  drive  ;  " 

for  he  who  attempts  any  branch  of  it,  dependent  upon  the 
knowledge  of  others,  without  taking  a  hold  himself  to 
attain  that  knowledge,  is  almost  certain  to  come  to  grief. 
A  class  of  scientific  men,  at  the  present  time,  are 
greatly  exercising  the  minds  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
professional  farmers  and  gardeners,  as  well  as  amateurs, 
in  the  matter  of  fertilizers.  These  gentlemen  have  dis- 
covered that  certain  kinds  of  plants  have  their  structure 
composed  of  different  elements,  and  their  aim  is  to  put 
in  the  soil  the  elements  that  are  found  in  the  several 
families  of  plants.  Some  dealers  in  fertilizers  advertise 
not  less  than  thirty  different  kinds,  which  they  claim  are 
specially  adapted  for  so  many  kinds  of  plants.  Thus, 
the  Orange  grower  of  Florida  is  told  that  a  special  ma- 
nure is  to  be  found  in  the  "  Orange  Fertilizers,"  manu- 
factured in  New  York  or  Philadelphia,  and,  if  he  has 
faith  in  the  claim,  is  induced  to  freight  a  material  which 
is  no  better,  for  the  purpose  wanted,  than  what  may 
be  bought  at  less  cost  at  his  door.  So,  too,  the 
Tobacco  grower  of  Kentucky,  the  Potato  grower  of  New 
York,  or  the  Wheat  growers  of  far-off  Minnesota  or 
California,  are  told  by  so-called  science  that  there  are 
fertilizers  specially  adapted  for  these  crops.  I  do  not 
for  a  moment  dispute  that  the  special  fertilizers  claimed 
for  special  crops  do  not  answer  for  these  crops  ;  but  that 
thece  specialties  are  a  necessity  is  the  point  questioned. 
There  are  few  practical  agriculturists  but  believe  that, 


POPULAR    ERRORS    AND    SCIENTIFIC    DOGMAS.  223 

if  all  the  thirty  specialties  were  mixed  together  and  ap- 
plied to  the  special  crops,  the  result  would  be  equally  as 
good  as  if  the  hair-splitting  distinction  of  a  separate  fer- 
tilizer for  each  crop  was  used.  Some  chemists  tell  us 
that  phosphorus  enters  largely  into  the  human  brain,  and 
that  a  fish  diet  is  necessary  for  the  best  development  of 
brains.  Broad  results  are  the  best  test  of  the  dogmas  of 
so-called  science  ;  and  it  scarcely  can  be  shown  that 
fish-eating  nations  or  communities  are  specially  noted 
for  extraordinary  brain  development. 

Charles  Darwin  has  said,  and  he  finds  many  believers, 
that  certain  plants,  such  as  the  Drosera  or  Sundew,  and 
our  own  Carolina  Fly-trap,  (Dioncea  muscipula^)  are  fed 
by  the  insects  that  their  wonderful  structure  enables 
them  to  catch.  In  conjunction  with  a  friend,  a  few 
years  ago,  I  made  most  extensive  and  careful  experiments 
in  our  green-houses,  covering  a  period  of  six  months, 
with  several  hundred  plants  of  the  Carolina  Fly-trap,  and 
the  result  showed  that  of  two  lots,  treated  exactly  in  the 
same  manner,  those  fed  with  insects  in  no  way  differed 
from  those  that  were  not  so  fed,  which  satisfied  me  that, 
if  the  plants  digested  the  insects  placed  in  the  leaf  trap, 
the  food  was  in  no  way  beneficial. 

While  these  experiments  were  going  on,  they  were 
watched  with  great  interest  by  hundreds,  and  nearly  all 
were  convinced  that  the  belief  that  any  plants  feed  on 
insects  is'a  delusion,  although  Mr.  Darwin  has  written  a 
book  of  400  pages  in  the  attempt  to  prove  it  a  fact.  Still, 
it  may  be  presumption  to  question  such  an  authority  ; 
and,  as  I  had  no  other  object  in  my  experiments  but  to 
get  at  the  facts,  I  will  be  pleased,  at  any  time,  to  furnish 
any  member  of  our  Society  enough  plants  of  the  Fly-trap 
to  experiment  with,  free  of  cost,  so  that  this  question 
may  be  more  definitely  settled. 


224  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

For  hundreds  of  years  the  art  of  grafting  and  budding 
has  been  practised,  the  object  being  to  perpetuate  varie- 
ties that  could  not  well  be  increased  by  cuttings  or  layers  ; 
and  it  had  been  almost  universally  believed,  until  a  few 
years  ago,  by  nurserymen  and  gardeners,  that  the  stock 
in  no  manner  affected  the  individuality  of  the  variety 
budded  or  grafted  upon  it,  except  to  make  it  stronger  or 
weaker,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  stock  budded  or 
grafted  upon. 

But  when  Mr.  Darwin,  in  1868,  issued  his  famous  work 
on  "  Animals  and  Plants  under  Domestication,"  he  started 
the  theory  of  what  is  called  "graft  hybrids,"  and~gave  a 
number  of  instances,  where  seemingly  there  was  amalga- 
mation of  the  stock  and  graft.  The  most  important  case 
instanced  is  where  a  Mr.  Adam  inserted  a  bud  of  Cytisus 
purpureus  into  the  Cytisus  Laburnum,  and  the  result 
was  that  the  bud,  when  it  developed,  had  yellow  and 
purple  racemes  on  different  shoots  ;  on  others  the  pur- 
ple and  yellow  were  intermingled  on  the  same  raceme, 
and  seemingly  partook  of  the  nature  of  both  varieties. 
Another  case  is  instanced  of  the  Bizzaria  Orange,  which 
originated  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  in  France, 
on  which  Oranges  and  Citrons  are  found  on  the  same 
tree,  distinct,  and  in  some  fruits  blended. 

Again,  he  cites  various  instances  where  the  bud  or 
graft  of  a  variegated  plant  has  the  effect  of  causing 
variegation  in  the  green-leaved  stock.  Nearly  every 
gardener  is  familiar  with  this.  If  he  takes  a  green- 
leaved,  white-flowered  Abutilon  and  grafts  the  Abutilon 
Thompsonii  on  it,  with  its  variegated  leaves  and  orange 
flowers,  the  variegation  will  affect  the  leaves  of  the  white 
variety,  but  no  other  change  occurs  ;  the  flowers  hold 
their  own  shape  and  color,  and  in  no  respect  are  they 
changed.  A  variegated  single  white-flowered  Oleander 


POPULAR   ERRORS    AND    SCIENTIFIC    DOGMAS.        225 

grafted  on  a  plain-leaved  red  variety  will,  as  in  the 
Abutilon,  blotch  the  leaves,  but  will  in  no  way  change 
the  color  or  condition  of  the  double  red  flower.  So  in 
the  case  of  Buist's  variegated  red  Althea,  when  grafted 
on  a  double  white  ;  it  in  no  other  way  affects  the  color 
or  doubleness  of  the  flower,  but  it  again  blotches  the 
leaves  white  with  the  disease,  variegation.  I  consider  it 
was  most  unfortunate  for  Mr.  Darwin  to  have  advanced 
the  peculiarity  of  variegated  leaves  as  bearing  on  his 
theory  of  "graft  hybrids,"  for  almost  in  every  instance 
where  a  variegated  variety  is  grafted  on  a  plain  green- 
leaved  stock,  it  taints  the  healthy  plant  with  variegation, 
though  it  changes  it  in  no  other  respect ;  just  as  a  small- 
pox victim  may  be  marked  with  that  disease,  but  in  no 
other  way  changed. 

Negative  evidence  is  not  usually  good  evidence,  but 
when  we  know  that  countless  millions  of  fruits  and  flowers 
have,  in  the  past  one  hundred  years,  been  budded  and 
grafted  without  the  individuality  of  the  variety  being  in 
any  way  affected  by  the  stock,  and  that  only  a  few  in- 
stances, such  as  the  Cytisus  purpureus  and  the  Bizzaria 
Orange,  can  be  cited  as  exceptions,  is  it  not  fair  to  infer 
that  these  almost  solitary  cases  are  due  to  what  Mr. 
Darwin  calls  "Bud  Variation  ?"  a  condition  by  no  means 
uncommon  in  scores  of  families  of  plants  which  are  never 
budded  or  grafted.  Nearly  all  of  us  see  every  season 
scarlet,  and  scarlet  and  white  striped  Carnations  on  the 
same  plant.  Dahlias  are  found  crimson,  crimson  and 
white,  and  sometimes  almost  white  on  the  same  plant. 
Last  spring  we  had  plants  of  the  double  scarlet  Hibiscus, 
with  scarlet,  orange,  and  scarlet  and  orange — three 
distinct  kinds  of  flowers  on  the  same  plant ;  and  that 
wonderful  freak  of  nature,  the  striped  Tea  Rose, 
American  Banner,  was  a  "  sport "  from  a  plant  of  Bon 


226  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

Silene,  and  has  no  resemblance  to  it,  either  in  flower  or 
foliage. 

Scores  of  other  instances  could  be  cited,  if  time  would 
permit ;  but  enough  has  been  shown,  I  think,  at  least  to 
throw  doubt  on  the  theory,  that  the  stock  affects  the  in- 
dividuality of  the  graft.  In  the  past  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury, millions  upon  millions  of  Bartlett  Pears  and  Bald- 
win Apples  have  been  grafted  upon  millions  of  stocks; 
and  yet  to-day  they  are  as  true  to  their  individuality 
as  the  Concord  Grape  or  Wilson's  Strawberry,  that 
are  perpetuated  by  cuttings  or  runners,  and  not  one  of 
them  is  in  any  way  changed  from  what  it  was  when  it 
first  appeared,  unless  by  the  temporary  accidents  of  soil 
or  climate. 

I  believe  that  the  smallest  or  the  greatest  of  God's 
creations  has  a  separate  and  distinct  individuality,  and 
that  they  cannot  be  blended,  except  by  generation,  and 
that  the  product  of  generation,  whether  in  the  lowest 
microscopic  germ,  or  in  the  highest  type,  man,  has  an 
individuality  distinct  and  separate  that  it  cannot  attach 
to  another. 


HUMBUGS   IN    HORTICULTURE.  227 

HUMBUGS  IN  HORTICULTURE, 

BY    PETER    HENDERSON. 

(An  Essay  Read  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  National  Association 

of  Nurserymen,  Florists,  and  Seedsmen,  held  at  Chicago.,  111., 

June  16,  1880.) 


THE  life-time  experience  of  any  man  is  not  too  short 
to  be  imposed  upon  by  many  of  the  hundreds  of  old 
varieties  of  fruits,  flowers,  or  vegetables  that  are  sent  out 
annually  under  new  names.  Any  well-posted  nursery- 
man can  easily  detect  when  a  Bartlett  Pear  or  a  Baldwin 
Apple  appears  under  a  new  name;  or  a  florist,  making  a 
specialty  of  Roses,  knows,  as,  for  example,  when,  some 
years  ago,  the  old  Solfaterre  Rose  was  sent  out  under  the 
name  of  "Augusta,"  (claiming  it  to  be  hardy  in  every 
State  of  the  Union,  and  sold  as  a  great  bargain  at  $5 
apiece,)  that  the  venders  thereof  were  either  swindlers  or 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  business  they  had  embarked  in; 
or  when  the  confiding  market  gardener  is  induced  to  buy 
a  new  and  superior  Cabbage* or  Tomato  seed  at  $5  an 
ounce,  and  finds  them  identical  with  varieties  that  he  can 
buy  at  half  that  price  per  pound,  he  has  good  reason  to 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  man  from  whom  he 
purchased  was  either  a  humbug  or  else  unfitted,  from  his 
ignorance,  to  engage  in  the  business  of  a  seedsman. 

But,  unfortunately,  from  the  varied  nature  of  these 
impostures,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  mete  out  justice, 
to  those  who,  knowingly  or  otherwise,  place  such  swindles 
on  the  horticultural  community;  for  the  man  who  grows 


228  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

fruit  trees  is  as  likely  to  know  as  little  about  Roses  as  the 
man  who  grows  Roses  is  to  know  about  fruit  trees,  and 
either  is  less  likely  to  be  posted  on  the  merits  of  vege- 
tables. So,  then,  if  the  partly  experienced  horticulturist 
may  be  imposed  upon  in  such  a  way,  how  safe  is  the  field 
when  the  swindler  tries  his  tricks  on  the  general  public. 

The  sharp  man  of  the  city  falls  as  quickly  into  the 
trap  of  the  horticultural  swindler  as  the  veriest  rustic, 
because  his  city  experience  of  impostures  in  other  matters 
helps  him  nothing  in  this.  He  may  not  be  much  troubled 
when  he  sees  a  bootblack  fall  off  the  dock  into  the  river, 
particularly  if  his  companion  plays  off  the  heroic  role, 
and  plunges  in  after  him  to  the  rescue.  He  understands 
it  all,  for  both  can  swim  like  ducks,  and  there  was  no 
more  danger  for  the  first  than  for  the  second,  and  none 
for  either.  A  well-stuffed  pocket-book  snatched  from 
under  his  feet  is  an  incident  that  does  not  in  the  least 
arouse  his  cupidity,  for  he  has  long  been  conversant  with 
the  trick  of  the  pocket-book  dropper.  The  mock  auc- 
tioneer may  scream  himself  hoarse,  offering  gold  watches 
at  $5  apiece,  and  it  hardly  elicits  a  smile  of  derision.  The 
tears  of  the  benighted  orphan  in  search  of  his  uncle  does 
not  bring  a  dime  from  his  pocket,  for  he  understands  it 
all,  together  with  a  score  more  of  the  tricks  of  the  great 
city.  But  in  the  springtime,  when  his  garden  instincts 
begin  to  bud,  and  he  sees  in  some  window  in  Broadway 
flaming  representations  of  fruits  and  flowers,  he  falls  into 
the  trap  and  is  ready  for  the  spoiler. 

Some  years  ago  I  had  occasion  to  act  as  an  amateur 
detective  in  one  of  these  horticultural  swindling  shops, 
the  owners  of  which  are  now  known  in  New  York  as  the 
"  Blue  Rose  Men."  When  I  arrived,  there  were  at  least 
a  dozen  ladies  and  gentlemen  engaged  in  buying  seeds, 
bulbs,  and  plants,  the  flowers  and  fruits  of  which  were 


HUMBUGS   IN    HORTICULTURE.  229 

represented  by  the  pictures  on  the  walls:  for  example, 
Asparagus  was  shown  as  having  shoots  as  thick  as  a 
broom  handle,  the  seeds  of  which  were  selling  rapidly  at 
one  cent  apiece,  warranted  to  produce  a  crop  in  three 
months  from  the  time  of  sowing;  an  old  lady  had  just 
become  the  possessor  of  $5  worth,  and  seemed  delighted 
with  her  bargain. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  pictures  on  the  wall  was  an 
immense  colored  engraving,  showing  a  tree,  on  which 
Strawberries  were  growing,  and  as  big  as  Oranges.  My 
gaze  was  attracted  to  a  handsome  plate  of  Blue  Moss 
Roses,  and  I  modestly  asked  the  price  of  the  plants.  The 
polite  Frenchman  (who  was  doing  the  principal  selling 
for  the  concern)  whisked  out  from  beneath  the  table 
three  plants,  representing  them  to  be  Moss  Roses,  (which, 
by-the-way,  were  all  alike,  and  were  all  our  common 
Prairie  Rose,)  and  said,  "  This  one,  he  bloom  only  once, 
I  tell  you  the  truth,  so  I  sell  him  for  two  dollar.  This 
one,  he  be  the  Remontant,  he  bloom  twice — just  twice — 
I  sell  him  for  three  dollar;  but  this  one,  he  be  the  ever- 
blooming,  perpetual  Blue  Moss  Rose,  he  bloom  all  the 
time,  he  cheap  at  $5."  I  quietly  remarked,  if  it  bloomed 
all  the  time,  why  was  it  not  blooming  now  ?  He  looked 
at  me  pityingly,  and  said,  "  My  dear  sir,  you  expect  too 
much.  These  Moss  Rose  just  come  over  in  the  ship 
from  Paris.  You  take  him  home  and  plant  him,  and  he 
bloom  right  away,  and  he  keep  on  blooming."  I  did  not 
take  him  home,  but  I  took  the  story,  something  in  the 
shape  it  is  now  told,  and  had  it  published  in  one  of  the  lead- 
ing New  York  papers,  and  in  less  than  a  week  the  "  Blue 
Rose  Men  "  had  pulled  up  stakes,  but,  no  doubt,  to  pitch 
their  camp  somewhere  else,  and  set  their  traps  for  fresh 
victims.  The  "  Blue  Rose  Men  n  are  very  impartial  in 
their  wanderings,  and  rarely  omit  a  city  of  any  size, 


230  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

beginning  usually  in  New  Orleans  in  January,  rounding 
northward,  and  ending  up  with  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
and  Boston  through  April  and  May. 

These  humbugs  in  horticulture  have  their  comical  side. 
The  other  year,  in  passing  St.  Paul's  Church,  (Broadway,) 
New  York,  I  saw  an  old  negro  squatted  on  the  pavement 
with  a  great  bundle  of  plants,  carefully  mossed  up,  lying 
alongside  of  him.  On  inquiring  what  they  were,  he  said 
they  were  Rose  bushes;  Rose  bushes  having  all  the  attri- 
butes wanted  in  a  Rose,  fragrance,  hardiness,  and  ever- 
blooming,  and  the  price  but  fifty  cents  apiece.  He  had 
got  them,  he  said,  from  the  boss,  and  was  selling  them  on 
a  commission.  The  poor  darkey  was  only  an  innocent 
agent.  He  no  doubt  believed  he  was  selling  Rose  bushes, 
but  the  boss,  whoever  he  might  be,  undoubtedly  knew 
better,  for  the  plants  were  not  Roses  at  all,  but  the  com- 
mon Cat  Brier,  (Smilax  sarsaparilla^)  one  of  the  worst 
pests  of  our  hedgerows,  but  the  plant  of  which  is  near 
enough  in  appearance  to  a  Rose  to  deceive  the  ordinary 
city  merchant. 

That  same  season  at  every  prominent  street  corner 
could  be  seen  the  venders  of  the  ''Alligator  Plant,"  which 
some  enterprising  genius  had  cut  by  the  wagon  load  from 
the  Jersey  swamps,  and  dealt  them  out  to  those  who 
retailed  them  on  the  street. 

The  "  Alligator  Plant "  was  sold  in  lengths  of  twelve  to 
twenty  inches,  at  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  apiece, 
according  to  its  straightness  and  length;  and  by  the 
number  engaged  in  the  business,  hundreds  of  dollars' 
worth  must  have  been  sold.  The  "Alligator  Plant"  is 
the  rough,  triangular  branches  of  the  Sweet  Gum  Tree, 
(Liquidambar  styraciflua^)  common  in  most  parts  of  the 
country.  There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  these  pieces 
of  stick  have  been  planted  by  thousands  during  the  last 


HUMBUGS   IN    HORTICULTURE.  23! 

two  years  in  the  gardens  in  and  around  New  York,  with 
about  as  much  chance  of  their  growing  as  the  fence 
pickets. 

The  bulb  peddlers,  a  class  of  itinerant  swindlers, 
deserve  brief  attention.  They  have  always  some  won- 
derful novelty  in  bulbs;  and  their  mode  of  operating,  to 
the  uninitiated,  has  a  semblance  of  fairness,  as  they  are 
liberal  fellows,  and  frankly  offer  to  take  one-half  cash  on 
delivery,  and  if  the  goods  do  not  come  up  to  the  repre- 
sentation, the  other  half  need  not  be  paid.  For  example, 
when  the  Gold-banded  Japan  Lily  was  first  introduced, 
bulbs  the  size  of  hickory  nuts  sold  at  $250  per  hundred. 
About  that  time  one  of  these  worthies  came  along  with 
samples  of  a  Lily  of  fine  size  and  appearance,  with  which, 
he  said,  he  had  just  arrived  from  Japan.  There  was  no 
doubt  of  its  genuineness,  for  he  had  seen  it  in  flower. 
He  had  a  large  stock,  and  would  sell  at  $100  per  hundred, 
but  he  was  willing  to  take  half  that  amount  down,  and 
the  other  half  when  it  flowered  and  had  proved  correct. 
It  did  not  prove  correct,  and  he  never  called.  The  bulb 
he  sold  was  the  common  White  Lily,  (Lilium  candidum^ 
which  is  sold  everywhere  at  $5  or  $6  per  hundred.  These 
same  scamps  flood  the  rural  districts  every  year  with 
blue  Gladiolus,  scarlet  Tuberoses,  and  other  absurdities 
in  bulbs  and  seeds,  usually  on  the  same  terms  of  one-half 
cash  down,  the  other  half  when  the  rara  avis  has  feathered 
out.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  they  never  try  it  twice  on 
the  same  victim,  but  avail  themselves  of  our  broad  conti- 
nent to  seek  out  new  fields  for  their  operations. 

One  of  the  most  successful  swindlers  of  this  type  was 
Comanche  George,  whose  fame  became  national.  George 
made  his  advent  in  New  York  in  1876.  He  was,  he  said, 
a  Texas  scout,  and  for  years  his  rifle,  revolver,  and  bowie 
knife  had  been  the  terror  of  the  red  men;  but  one  day, 


232  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

in  his  rambles  on  the  lone  Texas  prairies,  his  eye  was 
arrested  by  a  flower,  whose  wonderful  coloring  eclipsed  the 
rainbow,  and  whose  delicate  perfume  was  wafted  over 
the  Brazos  for  leagues;  in  short,  never  before  had  eye 
of  mortal  rested  on  such  a  flower.  The  man  of  war  was 
subdued.  He  betook  himself  to  the  peaceful  task  of 
gathering  seed,  and  turned  his  steps  to  the  haunts  of 
civilized  man  to  distribute  it. 

We  first  heard  of  him  iri  Washington,  where  he  wished 
to  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the  government,  and  accord- 
ingly offered  it  to  Mr.  William  Smith,  Superintendent  of 
the  Botanic  Gardens  there;  but  the  government,  so  Smith 
said,  was  not  just  then  in  a  position  to  buy,  and  with  his 
advice  George  trimmed  his  sails  for  New  York  and  a 
market.  His  success  in  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  was 
so  great  (where  he  started  the  sale  of  the  seeds  at  two 
cents  apiece)that  it  induced  him, when  he  struck  New  York, 
to  advance  the  price  to  five  cents  a  seed.  He  put  up  at 
one  of  the  best  hotels,  and  claimed  that  for  a  month  his 
sales  of  the  seed  of  the  Cockatelle — the  beautiful  Texas 
flower — reached  $50  a  day.  But  his  success  threw  him 
off  his  balance;  he  took  to  fire  water,  and  in  an  unguarded 
moment  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  newspaper  man,  who 
extracted  from  him  all  the  facts  connected  with  the  enter- 
prise. George  never  was  a  scout,  had  never  been  in 
Texas,  but  he  had  been  a  good  customer  to  the  various 
seedsmen  of  the  different  cities,  where  his  purchases  of 
Okra  or  Gumbo  seed,  at  about  fifty  cents  a  pound,  had 
made  nearly  a  dearth  of  the  article.  His  victims  (whose 
names  he  gave  by  the  score,  and  which  were  duly  chroni- 
cled in  the  newspaper  article  referred  to)  were  from  all 
classes:  the  enterprising  florist,  who  secretly  went  into  it 
in  a  wholesale  way,  with  a  view  to  outwit  his  less  fortunate 
fellows;  the  grandee  of  Fifth  Avenue,  who  anticipated  a 


HUMBUGS  IN   HORTICULTURE.  233 

blaze  of  beauty  on  his  lawn;  the  hotel  man,  whose  win- 
dow boxes  were  to  perfume  the  air;  all  had  fallen  easy 
victims  to  the  wiles  of  Comanche  George.  George  dis- 
appeared from  New  York,  though  there  is  but  little  doubt 
that  his  business  had  been  too  successful  for  him  to 
abandon  it.  A  newspaper  paragraph,  cut  from  a  paper 
last  week,  which  reads  as  follows,  looks  as  if  it  might 
be  the  Texas  scout  in  a  somewhat  different  role: 

"The  prepossessing  appearance,  gentlemanly  demeanor, 
and  foreign  accent  of  the  man  who  called  himself  Carlo 
Corella,  botanist  to  the  Court  of  Brazil,  convinced  a 
number  of  wealthy  San  Francisco  ladies  that  he  was 
truthful.  He  said  to  each  that  the  failure  of  a  remittance 
compelled  him  to  sell  some  rare  bulbs  of  Brazilian  Lilies, 
which  he  had  intended  to  present  to  Mrs.  R.  B.  Hayes. 
'  The  flower/  says  the  Chronicle, '  was  to  be  a  great  scarlet 
bell,  with  ecru  ruchings  on  the  petals,  a  solferino  frill 
around  the  pistil,  and  a  whole  bottle  of  perfumery  in  each 
stamen.'  He  sold  about  fifty  almost  worthless  bulbs  at 
$4  each." 

The  nurserymen  present  are  no  doubt  better  posted  in 
the  swindles  practised  in  their  particular  department 
than  I  am;  but  operators  engage  in  different  lines  in 
different  parts  of  the  country:  for  example,  we  have 
never  yet  seen  in  the  Eastern  States  any  one  trying  to 
sell  an  apple  tree  bearing  blue  apples  as  big  as  melons, 
as  we  were  told,  at  our  meeting  at  Cleveland  last  year, 
had  been  successfully  done  in  Ohio  and  Illinois.  Still 
we  have  men  of  fair  ability  in  the  nursery  swindling  line, 
one  of  whom  last  winter  succeeded  in  disposing  of  hun- 
dreds of  winter-bearing  grapes,  by  carrying  with  him  a 
few  good  bunches  of  the  white  Malaga  of  the  shops. 

One  great  detriment,  not  only  to  the  florist,  but  to  the 
purchaser,  is  begotten  of  these  swindles  in  horticulture. 


234  GARDEN    AND   FARM    TOPICS. 

The  purchaser  of  flowers  in  our  markets  must  have  his 
plants  in  bloom,  because  he  has  been  at  times  so  swindled 
that  he  must  now  see  what  he  buys.  In  New  York,  the 
amateur  rarely  buys  from  the  grower,  but  from  the  agent 
or  middleman  who  sells  in  the  market  stands  or  street 
corners.  These,  whether  men  or  women,  are  generally 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  plants,  and  most  of 
them  have  no  responsibility,  and  they  rarely  fail  to  make 
their  wares  accord  with  the  wants  of  the  purchaser:  nearly 
every  plant  is  hardy,  ever-blooming,  and  has  all  the 
qualities  desired  by  the  buyer. 

But  now  and  then  these  swindles  become  a  serious 
matter  to  the  victim.  Some  years  ago  a  typical  English- 
man, who  had  been  a  green  grocer  in  Covent  Garden 
Market,  London,  found  his  way  to  New  York.  He  at 
once  discovered  an  almost  entire  absence  of  Cauliflowers 
in  our  markets,  and  what  few  there  were,  were  sold  at 
prices  four  timer,  those  of  London.  He  soon  made  up 
his  mind  to  make  his  fortune,  and,  at  the  same  time,, 
show  the  Yankees  something  they  did  not  know.  He 
duly  selected  and  prepared  the  ground  for  an  acre,  and 
one  day  in  May  he  sallied  into  the  market  to  procure  his 
Cauliflower  plants.  This  he  found  no  difficulty  in  doing, 
for  at  Dutch  Peggy's  (in  those  days  the  headquarters  for 
all  kinds  of  herbs,  plants,  and  seeds)  they  were  to  be  seen 
by  the  wagon  load.  Tei*  thousand  were  procured,  the 
quantity  for  his  acre,  and,  duly  planted,  they  began  to 
grow  apace.  He  had  planted  the  ist  of  May.  If  it  had 
been  in  England,  his  Cauliflower  heads  would  have 
been  ready  about  the  ist  of  July,  but  something  was 
evidently  wrong  in  the  Yankee  climate.  His  Cauli- 
flowers grew  through  June,  through  July  into  August, 
only  to  develop  into  fine  specimens  of  Drumhead  Cab- 
bage, then  of  hardly  the  value  he  had  paid  for  them  as 


HUMBUGS   IN    HORTICULTURE.  235 

Cauliflower  plants.  He  got  out  of  the  business  thoroughly 
disgusted;  and  in  telling  his  sorrowful  tale  to  me  a  year 
afterward,  he  related  that  when  he  went  to  expostulate 
with  old  Peggy  about  having  blasted  his  prospects,  before 
he  could  get  a  word  said,  she  recognized  him  as  a  cus- 
tomer, and  demanded  to  know  if  he  did  not  again  want 
spme  more  early  Cauliflower  plants. 

I  have  said  old  Peggy  was  also  a  vender  of  seeds.  It 
is  now  something  over  thirty  years  ago  that  a  young 
florist  presented  himself  before  her  and  purchased  an 
ounce  of  Mignonette.  Ever  alive  to  business,  Peggy 
asked  him  if  he  had  tried  the  new  red  Mignonette.  He 
protested  there  was  no  such  thing,  but  Peggy's  candid 
manner  persuaded  him,  and  fifty  cents  were  invested. 
The  seed  looked  familiar,  and  when  it  sprouted  it  looked 
more  familiar;  when  it  bloomed  it  was  far  too  familiar, 
for  it  was  Red  Clover.  Peggy  has  long  since  been 
gathered  to  her  fathers,  and  I  have  entirely  forgiven  her 
for  selling  me  the  red  Mignonette. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  swindling  that  is  more  extensively 
practised,  and  which  so  cruelly  injures  the  operators  of 
the  soil,  as  that  of  adulteration  in  fertilizers.  The  great 
mass  of  our  farmers  and  gardeners  are  poor  men,  who 
can  ill  afford  even  to  pay  for  the  pure  fertilizers  necessary 
to  grow  their  crops,  and  to  pay  money  and  high  freights 
on  adulterations  worse  than  useless,  is  hard  indeed.  The 
ignorance  of  those  dealing  in  such  wares  does  much  to 
spread  the  evil.  A  fellow  came  into  my  office  last  summer 
with  samples  of  a  fertilizer,  nicely  put  up  in  cans,  which 
he  claimed  could  be  sold  in  immense  quantities  by  the 
seedsmen,  as  it  had  not  only  the  wonderful  properties 
of  invigorating  and  stimulating  all  planted  crops,  but  that 
it  at  the  same  time  would  kill  all  noxious  weeds.  I  need 
not  say  that  he  had  waked  up  the  wrong  passenger,  and 


236  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

that  he  made  a  rapid  movement  toward  the  door.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  the  impudence  and  absurdity  of  such  a 
claim,  the  scamp  was  enabled  to  prowl  around  the  vicinity 
of  New  York  for  weeks,  and,  undoubtedly,  sold  to  hun- 
dreds. If  he  had  said  he  had  a  cannon  from  which, 
when  grape  shot  was  fired  into  a  crowd,  it  killed  only 
enemies — never  friends — the  one  claim  would  have  been 
as  reasonable  as  the  other. 

There  is  another  species  of  humbugging,  which,  though 
it  can  hardly  be  called  swindling,  is  somewhat  akin  to  it. 
I  refer  to  the  men  who  claim  to  have  secrets  by  which 
they  can  accomplish  extraordinary  results  in  the  propa- 
gation and  culture  of  plants.  I  can  well  remember,  in 
my  early  days,  that  the  nursery  propagator  was  looked 
upon  as  a  sort  of  demi-god,  possessing  secrets  known 
only  to  himself  and  a  favored  few,  whose  interest  it 
was  to  continue  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  every  young 
aspirant  after  knowledge.  The  door  of  the  propagating 
house  was  locked  and  bolted,  as  if  it  were  a  Bastile,  and 
even  the  proprietor  (if  he  were  unfortunate  enough  not 
to  have  practical  knowledge)  was  allowed  entrance  only 
as  a  special  favor;  for  his  propagator  was  an  autocrat, 
of  whom  he  stood  in  awe  and  reverence.  But  since  the 
advent  of  horticultural  publications  in  America,  particu- 
larly during  the  past  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  the  "secrets  " 
of  these  pretentious  fellows  have  had  such  ventilation, 
that  now  nearly  every  operation  of  the  green-house  is  as 
well  understood  by  the  tens  of  thousands  engaged  in  the 
business,  as  the  operation  of  the  farm  is  by  the  farmer. 

The  most  of  these  pretenders  to  this  secret  knowledge 
of  horticulture  are  foreigners,  though  occasionally  a  native 
tries  it  on.  Some  fifteen  years  ago,  when  the  grape-vine 
mania  was  at  its  height,  an  old  Connecticut  Yankee  pre- 
tended he  had  discovered  a  new  method  of  propagating 


HUMBUGS  IN   HORTICULTURE.  237 

the  grape,  which  he  would  impart  for  a  consideration  to 
the  highest  bidder.  He  issued  a  profusion  of  hand  bills 
to  the  trade,  asking  for  bids,  modestly  requesting  the 
receiver  of  the  hand  bill  to  hang  it  up  in  a  conspicuous 
place. 

I  sent  my  copy  to  my  friend  Meehan,  of  the  Gardener's 
Monthly,  saying  that  the  pages  of  that  magazine  were 
the  most  conspicuous  place  I  knew  of  to  comply  with  the 
wish  of  the  old  gentleman.  Mr.  Meehan  not  only  in- 
serted the  advertisement  gratis,  and  in  the  most  conspicu- 
ous manner,  but  he  did  more,  for  he  appended  below  the 
advertisement  a  few  remarks  I  had  ventured  to  make  on 
the  subject.  This  opened  the  ball,  and  for  six  months 
the  pages  of  the  Gardener  s  Monthly  became  the  battle 
ground  for  the  opinions  of  the  discoverer  and  myself. 
But  the  gratuitous  advertisement  did  not  avail  him  much, 
for  he  and  his  secret  soon  passed  into  oblivion,  and  was 
heard  from  no  more.  There  are  no  secrets  in  horticul- 
ture. The  laws  that  govern  the  germination  of  a  seed, 
the  rooting  of  a  cutting,  or  the  taking  of  a  bud  or  graft, 
are  the  same  now  as  they  were  a  thousand  years  ago, 
and  anyone  pretending  to  have  any  secret  knowledge  in 
the  matter  is  either  an  ignoramus  or  an  impostor. 

Since  the  above  was  written  several  other  swindling 
schemes  have  been  perpetrated.  Among  others,  the  bulb 
man  has  turned  up  again.  Having  for  the  time  being 
become  too  well  known  in  the  city,  he  has  betaken  him- 
self to  the  rural  districts,  where  he  plied  his  trade  last 
fall  most  successfully,  rinding  his  victims  chiefly  among 
confiding  women.  Taking  pattern  of  the  "  Blue  Rose 
Man,"  he  has  provided  himself  with  gaudy  pictures  of 
impossible  Lilies,  which  ought  to  deceive  none  but  the 
thoughtless  or  ignorant.  As  a  matter  of  precaution,  it 
may  be  well  to  describe  his  methods  of  operating.  His 


238  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

first  move  is  to  learn  the  names  of  the  wealthiest  and  best 
known  people  in  the  neighborhood.  He  then  begins  his 
canvass,  calling  at  houses  where  he  has  reason  to  believe 
none  of  the  male  members  of  the  family  are  at  home.  He 
has  just  returned  from  California,  where  he  had  the  great 
good  fortune  to  discover  three  kinds  of  the  most  gorgeous 
of  all  Lilies,  hitherto  entirely  unknown,  and  now  for  the 
first  and  only  time  offered  for  sale.  Their  size  is  immense, 
the  colors  gorgeous,  and  the  fragrance  lovely.  No  such 
Lilies  have  been  seen  before.  He  has  sold  Mrs.  Brown, 
and  Mrs.  Smith,  and  Mrs.  Jones  (naming  well-known 
neighbors)  bulbs  of  each  of  the  three  kinds  at  four  and 
five  dollars  a  bulb;  but  as  he  has  only  a  few  left,  and  is 
anxious  to  get  home,  he  will  sell  the  remainder  at  two 
and  three  dollars  each.  His  victims  hesitate  in  doubt  a 
few  moments,  and  then  drop  into  the  net.  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  blocking  this  fellow's  game  in  one  instance, 
appearing  on  the  scene  just  in  time  to  do  so.  In  one 
locality,  within  my  personal  knowledge,  this  man  sold 
dozens  of  these  bulbs  to  confiding  victims.  I  saw  some 
of  these  "gorgeous"  new  California  Lilies  when  they  came 
into  flower,  and  they  were  all  neither  more  nor  less  than 
the  common  white  garden  Lily,  (Lilium  candidum^  fine 
bulbs  of  which  can  always  be  bought  for  twenty  cents 
or  less. 

Another  instance  maybe  mentioned,  in  which  the  rogue 
offered  for  sale,  at  a  dollar  a  paper,  the  seed  of  a  variety 
of  Mignonette,  even  more  famous  than  the  red  Mignon- 
ette of  Aunt  Peggy,  mentioned  above.  This  bore  mag- 
nificent spikes  of  flowers,  nearly  two  feet  long  and  of 
delicious  fragrance. 

A  lady  friend,  one  of  his  victims,  carefully  sowed  the 
seeds,  and  waited  anxiously  for  the  appearance  of  the 
plants.  The  seedlings  proved  to  be  so  vigorous  that  she 


HUMBUGS    IN    HORTICULTURE.  239 

ventured  to  separate  and  transplant  them  in  the  open 
border.  They  grew  and  grew  till  they  finally  rivaled  in 
growth  the  famous  mustard  seed  mentioned  in  the  good 
Book.  The  reader  will  probably  smile  when  I  tell  him 
that  this  famous  Mignonette  proved  to  be  Pearl  Millet. 

The  following  from  the  New  York  Tribune  of  February 
1 9th,  1882,  shows  that  occasionally  these  enterprising 
gentlemen  receive  their  deserts: 

"  The  case  of  John  Harrison,  the  industrious  seed 
peddler,  who  was  locked  up  in  Newark  the  other  day,  is 
one  which  calls  for  commiseration.  It  was  a  propitious 
season  for  business  in  his  line,  for  the  near  approach  of 
spring  had  begun  to  warm  up  the  desire  to  worry  the 
soil  and  plant  something,  a  desire  that  slumbers  in  the 
bosom  of  every  man  or  woman  who  is  the  proprietor  of  a 
garden,  a  back  yard,  or  even  of  a  flower  pot.  Our  vender 
was  therefore  driving  a  brisk  trade,  when  he  was  arrested 
for  obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses.  The  pretense 
and  falsehood  charged  were  Mr.  Harrison's  statement 
that  his  seeds,  when  dropped  into  water  or  earth,  would 
speedily  germinate  and  grow  into  a  bush,  which  would 
suddenly  burst  into  beautiful  and  fragrant  bloom,  and 
then  bear  a  rich  fruitage  of  *  wash-rags;'  a  crop  which  at 
once  commended  itself  to  the  cleanly  and  thrifty  house- 
wives of  New  Jersey.  Now  there  is  a  well-known  vine 
of  the  cucumber  family  which  flourishes  in  the  West 
Indies,  and  bears  a  gourd-like  fruit,  the  spongy  lining  of 
whose  tough  shell  is  used  by  the  simple  islanders  to  brush 
their  huts  with  when  they  have  any,  and  for  toilet  and 
culinary  cleansing  as  well.  Mr.  Harrison's  descriptions 
of  this  vegetable  may  have  been  a  trifle  too  eloquent,  but 
surely  a  merciful  magistrate  would  consider  this  nothing 
more  than  justifiable  professional  exaggeration.  Any  one 
who  has  been  attacked  by  a  roving  tree  agent,  armed  with 


240  GARDEN   AND   FARM   TOPICS. 

a  book  full  of  colored  lithographic  plates  of  trees  clad 
with  rainbow-hued  foliage,  and  decorated  still  further 
with  fruit  of  marvelous  shape  and  bulk,  will  under- 
stand that  Mr.  Harrison  is  not  a  unique  sinner,  but 
simply  a  man  who  understands  his  business." 

This  list  of  humbugs  on  horticultural  subjects  might 
be  greatly  extended,  but  perhaps  enough  has  been  said 
to  put  the  intelligent  and  thoughtful  reader  on  his  guard 
in  the  future. 


DRAINING.  241 


DRAINING. 


THIS  is  one  of  the  most  important  operations  in  horti- 
culture. No  matter  how  fertile  the  normal  condition  of 
the  soil ;  no  matter  how  abundantly  it  is  fertilized  ;  no 
matter  how  carefully  and  thoroughly  it  is  tilled,  if  water 
remain  in  it  at  the  depth  at  which  roots  penetrate,  all 
labor  will  be  in  vain  ;  for  no  satisfactory  result  can  ever 
be  attained  until  the  water  is  drained  off.  The  subject  is 
one  of  such  importance  that  we  cannot  give  it  full  atten- 
tion here,  and  to  such  as  need  to  operate  on  a  large 
scale,  works  specially  devoted  to  the  subject  should  be 
consulted,  or  a  draining  engineer  employed.  Soils  hav- 
ing a  gravelly  or  sandy  sub-soil  ten  or  twenty  inches 
below  the  top  soil  do  not  usually  need  draining,  but  in 
all  soils  underlaid  by  clay  or  hard  pan,  draining  is  indis- 
pensable, unless  in  cases  where  there  is  a  slope  of  two  to 
three  feet  in  a  hundred  ;  and  even  in  such  cases  drain- 
ing is  beneficial  if  the  sub-soil  is  clay. 

In  soils  having  a  clay  or  hard-pan  sub-soil,  drains 
should  be  made  three  feet  deep,  and  not  more  than 
twenty  feet  apart.  If  stones  are  plenty,  they  may  be 
profitably  used  to  fill  up  the  drains,  say  to  a  depth  of 
twelve  or  fifteen  inches,  either  placed  so  as  to  form  a 
"rubble  "  drain,  if  the  stones  are  round,  or  built  with  an 
orifice  at  the  bottom,  if  the  stones  are  flat.  In  either 
case  care  must  be  used  to  cover  the  stones  carefully  up 
with  inverted  sods,  or  some  material  that  will  prevent  the 
soil  being  washed  through  the  stones  and  choking  up 
the  drain. 


242  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

Drain  tiles,  when  they  can  be  obtained  at  a  reasonable 
price,  are  the  best  material  for  draining.  A  horse- 
shoe pattern  is  generally  used.  If  the  drain  has  a 
hard  bottom  they  can  be  placed  directly  on  it  when 
leveled  to  the  proper  grade;  but  if  the  ground  is  soft  and 
spongy,  a  board  must  be  laid  in  the  bottom,  on  which  to 
place  the  tiles.  It  is  often  a  very  troublesome  matter  to 
get  the  few  drain  tiles  necessary  to  drain  a  small  garden, 
and  in  such  cases  an  excellent  and  cheap  substitute  can 
be  had  by  using  one  of  boards.  Take  ordinary  rough 
boards,  Pine,  Hemlock,  or  Spruce,  and  cut  them  into 
widths  of  three  or  four  inches,  and  nail  them  together  so 
as  to  form  a  triangular  pipe,  taking  care  to  "  break  the 
joints  "  in  putting  the  lengths  together.  Care  must  be 
taken  that  the  boards  are  not  nailed  together  too  closely, 
else  they  might  swell  so  as  to  prevent  the  water  passing 
into  the  drain  to  be  carried  off.  These  drains  are  usually 
set  with  a  flat  side  down,  but  they  will  keep  clear  better 
if  put  with  a  point  down,  though  it  is  more  trouble  to 
lay  them.  Drains  made  in  this  way  will  last  twenty 
years  or  more. 

Of  course,  in  draining,  the  greater  the  fall  that  can  be 
got  the  better,  though,  if  the  grading  is  carefully  done 
by  a  competent  engineer,  a  very  slight  fall  will  suffice. 
Some  of  the  trunk  or  main  sewers  in  our  cities  have  only 
a  grade  of  one  foot  in  a  thousand. 

Drainage  in  flower  pots  is  essential  for  most  plants, 
whenever  the  pot  is  over  five  inches  in  diameter.  Char- 
coal broken  into  pieces  from  one-half  to  one  inch  in 
diameter  I  prefer  to  every  other  kind  of  drainage,  which 
should  be  in  depth  from  one  inch  to  four  inches,  accord- 
ing to  the  size  of  the  pot  to  be  drained,  an  extra  quantity 
being  necessary  if  the  plant  is  being  shifted  into  a  pot 
too  large  ;  then  ample  drainage  is  indispensable  to  ad- 


DRAINING.  243 

mit  of  the  quick  escape  of  water.  This  drainage,  so 
called,  is  not  alone  of  use  as  a  means  for  the  rapid  es- 
cape of  water,  but  also  for  the  admission  of  air  to  the 
roots,  which  brings  in  another  important  matter  in  con- 
nection with  the  drainage  in  pots,  the  necessity  of  stand- 
ing the  pots  on  some  rough  material,  (when  solid  benches 
are  used  in  the  green-house,  or  when  placed  in  the  open 
air  in  beds,)  such  as  gravel  or  cinders ;  for  if  placed  on 
sand,  soil,  or  anything  that  will  close  up  the  orifice  in  the 
bottom  of  the  pot,  all  the  drainage  placed  in  it  will  avail 
nothing.  It  is  far  better  to  use  no  drainage  at  all,  and 
stand  the  pots  on  a  rough  surface,  than  to  use  the  drain- 
age and  place  the  plants  on  some  material  that  will  close 
the  outlet.  If,  however,  the  bench  is  formed  of  slate,  or 
boards  that  have  been  cemented  over,  so  as  to  form  a 
smooth  surface,  there  is  no  necessity  for  placing  any 
gravel  or  other  rough  material  under  the  pots,  as  such 
a  surface  will  allow  the  water  to  pass  from  the  pots  more 
freely  than  if  anything,  such  as  gravel,  were  placed 
under  them.  For  very  large  pots  slatted  benches  are 
best. 

Many  years  ago,  in  some  of  my  first  writings  on  the 
subject  of  drainage  in  pots,  I  admit  to  having  taken 
rather  too  radical  ground  against  the  practice,  because, 
in  those  days,  everybody  almost  used  to  "crock "  or  drain 
the  very  smallest  pots.  The  absurdity  of  this  soon 
became  apparent  to  me,  as  I  found  that,  with  hardly  an 
exception,  for  plants  in  pots  up  to  the  size  of  four  inches, 
it  was  worse  than  useless  to  drain;  and  as  all  my  practice, 
up  to  that  time,  had  been  with  pots  but  little  larger  than 
four  inches,  I  rather  rashly  jumped  to  the  conclusion 
that,  in  our  warm,  dry  atmosphere,  the  European  practice 
of  crocking  all  sizes  of  flower  pots  might  be  wholly  dis- 
pensed with  here  ;  but  added  experience  showed  that, 


244  GARDEN    AND    FARM    TOPICS. 

even  in  our  dry  atmosphere,  flower  pots  of  five  inches 
diameter  and  upward,  in  which  are  grown  Roses  or 
other  plants  whose  roots  are  sensitive  to  moisture,  had 
better  be  crocked  or  drained.  It  is  not  pleasant  to 
admit  an  error,  particularly  when  promulgated  in  print 
for  the  "  instruction  "  of  others;  but  it  is  better  to  make 
what  amend  is  possible  by  making  the  acknowledgment, 
than  to  continue  to  stick  to  opinions  before  given  when 
there  is  reason  to  believe  these  were  formed  in  error. 


THE    END. 


GAEDEIIIG-  EOE  PROFIT. 

BY 

PETER   HENDERSON. 

To  such  as  are  intending  to  begin  the  business  of 
Market  Gardening,  we  offer  for  their  instruction  our 
work  "Gardening  for  Profit,"  published  first  in  1866, 
and  a  new  edition  in  1873.  "  Gardening  for  Profit"  has 
had  a  larger  sale,  probably,  than  any  work  ever  published 
on  the  subject  of  Horticulture.  Upward  of  fifty  thousand 
copies  have  been  sold,  and  we  have  hundreds  of  grateful 
testimonials  from  those  who  have  been  benefited  by  its 
teachings.  The  subjects  of  its  contents  are: 

The  Men  fitted  for  the  Business. — Amount  of  Capital  required  and 
Working  Force  per  Acre. — Profits  of  Market  Gardening. — The 
Market  Gardens  near  London. — Location,  Situation,  and  Laying 
Out. —  Soils,  Drainage,  and  Preparation. —  Manures. —  Imple- 
ments.— The  Uses  and  Management  of  Cold  Frames. — The 
Formation  and  Management  of  Hot-beds. — Forcing  Pits  and 
Green-houses. — Seeds  and  Seed  Raising. — How,  When,  and 
Where  to  Sow  Seeds. — Transplanting. — Packing  of  Vegetables 
for  Shipping. — Preservation  of  Vegetables  in  Winter. — Insects. — 
Vegetables  ;  their  Variety  and  Cultivation. — Monthly  Calendar 
of  Operations. 

Sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  $1.50. 

PETER  HENDERSON   &   CO., 

35  &  37  Cortlandt  St.,  New  York. 


PRACTICAL  FLORICULTURE, 

BY 

PETER  HENDERSON. 

The  first  edition  was  published  in  1868,  the  second 
edition  in  1873,  and  the  third  edition  in  December,  1878. 
It  was  written  to  teach  how  flowers  and  plants  can  best 
be  "grown  for  profit."  The  success  of  this  book  has 
been  fully  as  marked  as  that  of  "Gardening  for  Profit," 
when  we  consider  that  it  only  refers  to  a  business  exclu- 
sively a  luxury.  Upward  of  thirty  thousand  copies  of 
this  work  have  been  sold,  and  it  has  been  the  means  of 
establishing  thousands  of  persons  in  an  agreeable,  and, 
in  a  majority  of  cases,  profitable  business.  Its  contents 
embrace:  * 

Aspect  and  Soil. — Laying  out  the  Lawn  and  Flower  Garden. — 
Designs  for  Ornamental  Grounds. — Planting  of  Flower  Beds. — 
Soils  for  Potting. — Temperature  and  Moisture. — The  Potting  oi 
Plants. — Cold  Frames;  Winter  Protection. — Construction  of 
Hot-beds. — Green-house  Structures. — Green-houses  attached  to 
Dwellings. — Modes  of  Heating. — Base  Burning  Water  Heater. — 
Propagation  of  Plants  by  Seeds. — What  Varieties  come  True 
from  Seed. — Propagation  of  Plants  by  Cuttings. — How  Plants 
and  Flowers  are  Grown. — Propagation  of  Lilies. — Culture  of  the 
Rose. — Culture  of  the  Verbena.  —  Culture  of  the  Tuberose. — 
Orchid  Culture. — Holland  Bulbs. — Cape  Bulbs;  Varieties  and 
Culture. — Culture  of  Winter-Flowering  Plants  — Construction 
of  Bouquets,  Baskets,  etc. — Wire  Designs  for  Cut  Flowers. — 
Hanging  Baskets. — Parlor  and  Window  Gardening. — Wardian 
Cases  Ferneries;  etc. —  Formation  of  Rockwork. — Insects. — 
Are  Plants  Injurious  to  Health  ? — Nature's  Law  of  Colors. — 
Packing  Plants.— Plants  by  Mail.— The  Profits  cf  Floricul- 
ture,,—  How  to  Become  a  Florist. — Short  Descriptions  of  Soft- 
Wooded  or  Bedding  Plants  of  the  Leading  Kinds. — What 
Flowers  will  Grow  in  the  Shade. — Green-house  and  Stove  or 
Hot-house  Plants. — Annuals,  Hardy  Herbaceous,  Perennial  and 
Biennial  Plants,  Ornamental  Shrubs  and  Climbers. — Culture  of 
Grape  Vines  under  Glass.  —  Diary  of  Operations  for  Each  Day  in 
the  Year. 

Sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  $1.50. 

PETER    HENDERSON    &   CO., 

35  &  37  Cortlandt  St.,  New  York. 


&AEDEHI&  FOR  PLEASURE. 

BY 

PETER  HENDERSON. 

This  book  was  written  by  Mr.  Henderson  in  1875, 
to  meet  the  wants  of  those  desiring  information  on  gar- 
dening for  their  private  use,  and  who  had  no  desire  to 
make  it  a  business.  It  is  flattering  to  state  that  the 
demand  for  this  book,  for  the  time  it  has  been  issued, 
has  been  greater  than  either  of  its  predecessors.  Its 
scope  of  subjects  is  naturally  greater  than  either  "Garden- 
ing for  Profit"  or  "Practical  Floriculture,"  as  it  embraces 
directions  for  the  propagation  and  culture  of  fruit,  flowers, 
and.  vegetables.  Its  contents  include  : 

Soil  and  Location. — Drainage. — Preparation  of  the  Ground. — Walks. 
— Manures. — How  to  Use  Concentrated  Fertilizers. — Special 
Fertilizers  for  Particular  Plants. — The  Lawn. — Design  for  Gar- 
den.— Planting  of  Lawns  and  Flower  Beds. — Fall  or  Holland 
Bulbs. — Propagation  of  Plants  by  Seeds. — Propagation  of  Plants 
by  Cuttings. — Propagating  by  Layering. — About  Grafting  and 
Budding. — How  Grafting  and  Budding  are  Done. — Treatment 
of  Tropical  Bulbs,  Seeds,  etc. — The  Potting  of  Plants. — Winter- 
Flowering  Plants. — Unhealthy  Plants  ;  the  Remedy. — Plants 
Suited  for  Summer  Decoration. — Hanging  Baskets. — Window 
Gardening. — Parlor  Gardening,  or  the  Cultivation  of  Plants  in 
Rooms. —  Wardian  Cases.—  Ferneries.  —  Jardinieres. —  Winter- 
Forcing  the  Lily  of  the  Valley. — Green-houses  attached  to 
Dwellings. — A  Detached  Green-house  or  Grapery. — Heating  by 
Hot  Water. — Green-house.  Pits  without  Artificial  Heat. — Com- 
bined Cellar  and  Green-house. — Hot-beds. — Shrubs. — Climbers 
and  Trees. — Hardy  Herbaceous  Perennials. — Annual  Flowering 
Plants. — Flowers  which  will  Grow  in  the  Shade. — Insects. — 
Mildew. —  Frozen  Plants. —  Mulching.  —  Are  Plants  in  Rooms 
Injurious  to  Health?— Shading.— The  Laws  of  Color  in  Flowers. 
— Pruning. — Hardy  Grapes. — Cold  Grapery. — The  Hot-house  or 
Forcing  Grapery. —  The  Strawberry.  — Cottage  Gardening;  a 
Digression. — The  Vegetable  Garden. — Garden  Implements. — 
Monthly  Calendar  of  Operations. 

Sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  $1.50. 

PETER    HENDERSON   &.   CO., 

35  &  37  Cortlandt  St.,  New  York. 


HENDERSON'S 

HANDBOOK  OE  PLANTS. 

BY 

PETER  HENDERSON. 

This  new  work  is  designed  to  fill  a  want  that  many  amateur  and  pro- 
fessional Horticulturists  have  often  felt,  the  need  of  a  concise 
yet  comprehensive  Dictionary  of  Plants.  The  work  above  named, 
written  and  compiled  with  great  care,  we  think  will  fully  meet 
such  a  want. 

The  scope  of  the  work  embraces  the  Botanical  Name,  Derivation, 
Linnsean  and  Natural  Ciders  of  Botany  of  all  the  Leading  Genera 
of  Ornamental  and  Useful  Plants,  up  to  the  present  time,  (com- 
prising every  plant  of  importance  relating  to  the  mechanic  arts, 
as  well  as  to  the  green-house  and  vegetable  garden,)  with  concise 
instructions  for  propagation  and  culture.  A  valuable  feature  of 
the  book,  particularly  to  amateurs,  is  the  great  care  that  has  been 
given  to  obtain  all  known  local  or  common  names;  and  a  compre- 
hensive glossary  of  Botanical  and  Technical  terms  is  also  given, 
which  will  be  found  of  great  value  even  to  the  experienced  Hor- 
ticulturist. 

As  a  book  of  reference,  HENDERSON'S  HANDBOOK  OF 
PLANTS  will  take  the  place,  for  all  practical  purposes,  of  the 
expensive  and  voluminous  European  works  of  this  kind,  as  it  has 
been  written  with  a  view  to  meet  the  wants  of  those  engaged  in 
Horticulture  in  this  country.  Instructions  for  the  culture  of 
many  important  plants  have  been  given  at  length. 

HENDERSON'S  HANDBOOK  OF  PLANTS  is  a  large  octavo 
volume  of  412  pages,  printed  on  fine  white  paper,  and  handsomely 
bound  in  cloth. 

We  will  forward  the  book,  postpaid  by  mail,  on  receipt  of  $3.00;  or 
we  will  send  it,  as  well  as  any  or  ail  of  our  other  books,  as  a 
Premium  on  orders  for  Seeds  or  Plants  selected  from  our 
Catalogue  of  "EVERYTHING  FOR  THE  GARDEN."  Full  informa- 
tion as  to  how  these  Book  Premiums  may  be  obtained  will  be 
found  in  the  Catalogue,  which  we  shall  be  pleased  to  send  to  any 
address  free  of  charge. 

PETER   HENDERSON  dt  CO., 

35  &  37  Cortlandt  St.,  New  York. 


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